Fallen Hitokiri
by Kukapetal
Summary: What would happen if Kenshin was able to stop Jin'eh from committing suicide after their fight? How can he help an angry, broken, and stubborn man who does not want to be saved? The first fanfic I ever wrote and it's longer than Longcat.
1. Fallen Hitokiri

_Just a quick author's note: This is an old fic I wrote quite a few years ago and I think I was still working out how I wanted to do POVs. As a result, this thing switches between Jin'eh's and Kenshin's POVs like a Pingpong match. I've put some dividers between the sections to mark where one POV ends and another begins. Also, I don't own Kenshin and all the usual disclaimers. I wish I owned Jin'eh though. He's my fave. :P_

The Hitokiri Battousai raised his sword, ready to strike. Below him, the Hitokiri Jin'eh knelt, grinning up at him psychotically. Batousii's sword arm trembled in anticipation, the darkness within him growing excited at the thought of finally spilling blood again. It would be so easy, too. Jin'eh was making absolutely no effort to avoid the strike he knew was coming. In fact, he seemed to be as excited as Battousai, if not more so. Battousai started to swing.

Almost instantly, he felt his mood change. A horrid sickness rose within him as he quickly repressed his dark thoughts and realized what he was doing. The horror of the many murders he'd committed during the revolution, the screams of the men he'd killed, the looks on their faces as he'd taken their lives, it all came rushing back to him at once. _To kill once again…..,_ he thought. _How can I do it? My vow…my new life…all of it…gone with one swing of my sword. _His arm was beginning to grow tired from being held in the air for so long, but he took no notice, lost in his own internal debate between light and darkness. Suddenly, Jin'eh's voice snapped him back to the present situation:

"Why do you hesitate, Battousai? You know the girl's life hangs in the balance! Spare me, and she will die. Kill me, and she will live. The choice couldn't be more simple. Now hurry! There is no time for hesitation. Become the Hitokiri of legends and kill me with a single blow right here!" He traced a line on the top of his head with his finger, then gazed up at Battousai expectantly.

Battousai realized the awful truth. Jin'eh was right. There was no choice. He had to do it to save Kaoru-dono. The thought of her last breath leaving her body, of her eyes never opening again, of never hearing her voice…such a thing would be even more awful than becoming a Hitokiri again. He fixed his gaze on Jin'eh once more, his yellow eyes growing cold.

"I have no desire to give you such a gift, Jin'eh. But to save Kaoru-dono, I will become a Hitokiri once more."

"That's it!" Jin'eh raved. "Give me a taste of your assassin's blade!"

Battousai started to swing.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The great, paralyzing pressure on Kaoru's chest and body left her in an instant as she forced it from her, forced the scream from her throat, carrying all the pain and anguish she'd felt during this battle with it. A second later, air rushed into her lungs and she fell forward, gasping. Supporting herself with her hands, she waited for her vision to clear, almost afraid of what she would see.

She felt a flood of relief as she saw Kenshin's sword had stopped just inches from Jin'eh's head. Both men stared at her with matching expressions of utter astonishment. They looked almost comical like that. Even as that nonsensical thought ran through her mind, she felt her strength leave her. She tried to sit up, but hadn't the energy even for that, so instead she pitched backwards towards the floor of the shrine.

She waited for the pain of her head hitting the floor, but it never came. Instead, she felt strong arms surrounding her, holding her, protecting her. A gentle hand stroked her hair, and a soft and familiar voice spoke to her with both love and concern.

"Kaoru-dono., are you all right?"

She opened her eyes and saw with relief that it was _Kenshin_ holding her. There was no trace left of that monster inside of him. He had been restored to her. "Oh, Kenshin," she managed to say. "I'm all right."

"Oro?" he seemed surprised by her reply.

She couldn't help but grin. "You're talking like how you always do." There was no doubt that her Kenshin had returned now. "I'll be all right now," she said again.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Jin'eh remained where he was, staring at the two of them with a mixture of disbelief and rage. How could this weak little girl….how could….how could she? It was impossible! Yet there she was, still breathing. How could she have shaken off his strongest Shin no Ippou? A spike of fury rushed through him and he pushed himself to his feet. Then he stopped, still staring at them. Neither of them had even taken any notice of him. That was the most infuriating part of all this. Suddenly he had become nothing to worry about, just a part of the scenery to them. He would show them that he was not something that could be ignored…

The pain that came when he reached for his sword reminded him. His sword arm could no longer bend. He tried to move it, but even the fingers would not work. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he glared at Battousai and his little woman once more. _Curse you, Battousai. You were right. I will never be a swordsman again._ The thought filled him with a hatred he had thought he was no longer capable of feeling. He wanted to rush at the two of them, to rip their flesh apart, watch the ground grow red with their blood. He wanted to hear that fool and his little witch _scream. _But he knew such an act would be useless. Battousai had beaten him, and there was nothing he could do about it._ It is over. It is over and I've lost. Not only to Battousai, but to Battousai's woman. _All his skills, all his techniques were shit if such a person could shake them off. And here he'd been slightly embarrassed by Battousai's friend from the previous night's victory over the technique…

"First the rooster-headed fool, and now her. Two have managed to overcome my strength. I must be getting soft," he mumbled to himself. How could he have been so weak and not even known it? _I am weak. I am pathetic. And now, I am worthless as well,_ he thought, looking at his crippled right arm. _What now?_

He knew what Battousai was planning to do with him (when Battousai finally got finished doting on his little girlfriend and started paying attention to him). Turn him in to those ridiculous police officers. _That _humiliation would be more than he could bear. To be a captive of such useless buffoons would be the final insult. And he knew he could not let the secret of who had hired him get out. That was not a proper thing for a Hitokiri to do. _Our secrets die with us._ He could not let himself be captured. And yet, escape was impossible. There was no way he was going to get away from Battousai now. And even if he could, then what? Battousai had ruined him and he could no longer serve his only purpose in life. A horrid sense of helplessness filled him. It startled him as much as it upset him. He thought he'd left such feelings behind long ago. _I must really be getting soft, _he thought to himself. _I truly am not fit to live anymore. I am a disgrace to my kind. There is only one thing left for me to do._

He'd known it might end like this someday. A Hitokiri was meant to die this way if he could not die in battle. _But not tonight. I didn't expect it tonight. If I was going to die tonight, I wanted it to be at the edge of his blade. But it doesn't matter anymore anyway, so I mustn't allow myself to feel regret. _Consoling himself with the thought that at least there would be pain and blood at the end, even if it was only his own, he drew his short sword and started toward Battousai.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kenshin was just helping Kaoru to sit up when he heard Jin'eh approach from behind. Knowing that the man could not do anything to him now, Kenshin didn't even bother to turn around.

"Battousai." Jin'eh's voice was a growl.

"Give it up, Jin'eh," he said, still not turning around. "There is nothing you can do with only a short sword and your left arm. It's over. You lost. Now accept it quietly."

"No, it's not over," said Jin'eh softly. "There is still something I can do." Kenshin began to realize with disbelief that Jin'eh was actually going to try something. Satisfied that Kaoru-donno was not going to fall over, he curled his hand around the handle of his sword.

"I can clean up!" said Jin'eh, a crazed satisfaction in his voice.

Kenshin whirled around to see Jin'eh with the sword pointed at his own chest. _He's going to kill himself, _Kenshin realized instantly. Summoning all his Hitokiri's speed, he launched himself off the floor of the shrine and reached Jin'eh in an instant. Swinging his own sword, he quickly knocked the blade from Jin'eh's hands.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Jin'eh gave a useless cry of rage as the sword went spinning from his grasp. It flashed once in the light from the full moon, then landed with a clatter somewhere off in the darkness. With another cry, he turned as if he were going to try to go after the sword, but he had trouble keeping his balance with only one arm, and ended up spinning in a circle, as if he were drunk on sake. An instant later, Battousai's arm caught him across the chest, shoving him roughly to the ground. He landed badly, because he had only one arm to try to stop his fall with, and he fell over onto his side. He flailed about uselessly for a moment, like some fish that had been thrown onto land, until he managed to use his left arm to push himself into a sitting position. Battousai was standing over him with a maddeningly calm expression on his face.

"DAMN YOU, BATTOUSAI!" Jin'eh screamed up at him. "Why must you always interfere? You've already taken everything else away from me! Why can't I at least have this? If nothing else, can't I at least have a warrior's death?"

"You are not a warrior, Udou Jin'eh. You are a selfish bully. A swordsman's death is too good for you. But that's not why I stopped you." Battousai's voice was flat and expressionless. Jin'eh did not respond, instead glaring up at him as if trying to kill him with his stare alone. Battousai continued:

"I stopped you because I believe that all human lives are precious. Including yours. What are you hoping to accomplish by ending your life? It will not fix any of your problems and it will change nothing. Your life is a gift that you should not throw away. I learned that long ago, when I decided to live even though I'd committed so many crimes."

"Spare me your pretty speeches, Battousai!" Jin'eh snarled. "They do not become you, just as this smashed arm does not become me. Neither are weapons of a true Hitokiri!" He continued, his voice becoming a sneer: "You are just as pathetic as I, Battousai. You too are not fit to be called a Hitokiri. You should drive your sword into your heart as well. And then, when the two of us are standing beside one another in Hell, perhaps you will understand."

"Silence." Battousai's voice was still expressionless. "It is you who does not understand. I knew you were many things, Jin'eh, but I never knew you were a fool."

"I HATE YOU, BATTOUSAI!" Jin'eh also hated himself, now that he had been reduced to schoolboy-like insults, but he could no longer help it.

"I know." said Battousai. "But I do not hate you. I pity you."

That did it. With an inhuman scream, Jin'eh lurched to his feet and charged Battousai. But it had taken him a few seconds to regain his balance once he got up, and so Battousai had had ample time to prepare. Battousai stuck out an elbow, smacking it into the other man's chest, knocking him down once more. Expecting this, Jin'eh reached out his left hand, and seized Battousai's elbow, hanging on for dear life. As a result, when Jin'eh went down, Battousai went with him. He landed on top of Jin'eh, and Jin'eh stuck out his left arm, knocking Battousai to the ground next to him. Hardly believing his good luck, he leapt onto Battousai's chest, kneeling on his stomach. He wrapped his left hand around the gasping man's neck and _squeezed. _Ah, this feeling- it was good.

"Since you refuse to end your own life, Battousai, I suppose I will have to do it for you. Don't worry. We will not be parted long. I will be coming right behind you. And when we meet again in Hell, tell me if you thought dying was as enjoyable as killing. I certainly intend to find out myself." With an evil chuckle, he squeezed harder. Behind him, he heard the girl scream, and then her footsteps as she ran toward them. Ha! She was not going to interfere _this _time. He had Battousai and was not going to let anyone stop him.

He was thinking about _that _instead of concentrating solely on Battousai, and so the other man took advantage of his temporary distraction. Doing some kind of backwards somersault, he sent Jin'eh flying face first into the dirt, and he himself went from flat on his back to a crouch position.

Jin'eh tried to get up, but he felt a foot suddenly slam into his back, forcing him back into the dirt. Battousai once again had the advantage.

"And will you kill me now, Battousai? You can't leave someone as nasty as me running around, now can you? Go on, do it! I'd do the same to you if you were in this position. That should be incentive enough."

"I have no doubts that you would kill me if I were in this position, Jin'eh. But I am not like you. I will not kill you, no matter what you say or do."

"I HATE YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Jin'eh flailed uselessly against the ground. He sank his fingers into the earth, clenched his fist, delighted in the pain as one of his fingernails tore. "I HATE YOU!" His voice was becoming raw from screaming.

"I know that. You've said that already. But it doesn't change anything, that it doesn't. Now stop this. It's over. Accept it."

Jin'eh screamed then, a scream of both rage and anguish. He screamed and screamed, and his scream gradually became a sob. He could no longer hold it in. He screamed his fury, sobbed his anguish into the earth, as though he were trying to wake the dead from their slumber with some demented ritual. It was an infantile temper tantrum, but he _could….not…help it!_ He beat at the ground with his fist, completing the effect.

As he grew exhausted, his tantrum diminished until he was weeping weakly into the grass. He didn't think he could have stopped his tears even if he'd tried. After being held back for so many years, it was now as though they threatened to overflow. It was like some dam had burst, and he was now caught up in the raging floodwaters. _Gods, he could not stop! _He cried and cried, not caring that his face was getting dirty, that a blade of grass was poking him in the eye, or that his nose was running. He felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder.

Battousai. He became dimly aware that the man was kneeling next to him. He was probably waiting for the chance to make one of those self-righteous speeches he seemed to be so fond of. Jin'eh didn't care anymore. Battousai had now robbed him of the one thing he'd had left-dignity. Gods, how he hated the man. However, that hatred was no longer that fiery hatred he'd felt earlier. It was now only a quiet kind of ache. He was too exhausted to even _hate_ Battousai properly now. Yet even as this realization brought on a flood of fresh tears, he had another, more important realization. Battousai's foot was no longer holding him down.

It was only a half-hearted realization. Somewhere deep inside him, he'd finally accepted that he wasn't going to be able to kill or even hurt Battousai. But he didn't know what else to do. Still crying, he pushed himself wearily into a sitting position and then threw himself weakly at the man.

He just wanted one good punch, but Battousai had obviously expected this all along. He moved his head slightly to the side, and Jin'eh ended up punching air instead. However, his momentum carried him forward, and he fell into Battousai, knocking him into a sitting position and falling on top of him, practically into his lap. Sitting up, he pummeled Battousai's chest weakly with his fist, like an angry little girl. He hit and hit, his blows doing absolutely no damage whatsoever, and snarled his hatred of the man over and over. It was useless, but he couldn't stop. He had no idea how long Battousai let him go on like this. Finally, he must have decided he'd had enough of being used as a punching bag (even if it likely didn't hurt). He hooked his right arm around Jin'eh, effectively pinning his left arm against his body. Jin'eh gave up completely then, practically collapsing. Battousai caught him and helped to keep him in a sitting position. Not wanting any help whatsoever, Jin'eh pulled away, but then nearly fell over backwards. Again, Battousai caught him, and pulled him forward. However, he overcompensated, and Jin'eh ended up falling into him, his face smashing against his shoulder. He simply remained there, crying into Battousai's shirt with the broken, desolate sobs of a man who'd lost everything.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kenshin was momentarily startled. He had still been expecting Jin'eh to try to attack him in some other way, and was quite surprised to see his adversary give up so completely. _He must really be exhausted, _Kenshin thought to himself. Yet even as he felt relief that the battle was finally over, he was still concerned. Jin'eh was clearly still suicidal, and Kenshin was not certain how to make sure he wouldn't try to hurt himself again. He knew that it would be so easy to just bow out now and turn Jin'eh in to the police. They could deal with him, and whatever happened afterward would be out of Kenshin's hands. But he knew he could not do that because he knew that Jin'eh would kill himself the first time the opportunity presented itself. There was no way that the police would be able to watch him every second. _If I turn him in now, I am ensuring his death. But what else can I do with him? I know I have to try and help him somehow, but I don't know what to do. Maybe if I try to talk to him…. No, he won't listen. But I have to try something…. _He looked down at his defeated rival, who was still weeping uncontrollably and felt an awkward but strong urge to comfort him in some way. _That is what I must do, _he realized. _I have to try to calm him. He probably won't let me, but I'm going to try. If I can get him to calm down, then maybe he'll listen to me. _He set down his sword, sliding it out of Jin'eh's reach (just in case), and encircled the sobbing Hitokiri with his arms, embracing him gently.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Jin'eh was caught completely by surprise. He had already been somewhat startled by the fact that Battousai didn't initially push him away when he collapsed, but now he was suddenly experiencing a sensation so foreign to him that for a moment he thought he was being attacked in some way. He gave a cry that sounded almost like fear and struggled weakly against Battousai. But Battousai simply held him in a gentle but firm way until Jin'eh's struggles subsided, and he sat stiffly in Battousai's embrace, wide eyed and breathing in great gasps, as though an ice-cold blade were being dragged across his back. He felt Battousai reach up and gently stroke his hair. He froze once more, then began to whimper as a new kind of tears stung the corners of his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had touched him in this way. He didn't know how to react, or even how it was supposed to feel. _Gods, what is this? What is he doing to me? I don't…..I don't know how….why is he…what…._His mind was a swirling mix of confusion and half-asked questions. He wanted Battousai to stop, but strangely, at the same time, he didn't want Battousai to stop. _What? No! I do want him to stop! Please, please, make him stop! Please….Battousai…..Please stop. Please…stop…._

"Please stop, Battousai," he finally begged. "Please, just leave me alone." Hot tears trickled down his cheeks.

"Jin'eh…." Battousai's voice was soft and tender, barely louder than a whisper. His hand moved downward, stroking first Jin'eh's neck, then his back. Jin'eh began to whimper again, but Battousai soothed him. "It's all right, Jin'eh."

Jin'eh had to fight the strange urge to relax. He was so tired that it suddenly didn't seem so bad to just calm down. Yet his mind screamed at him not to do such a foolish thing. He was terrified that if he calmed down, he'd fall into Battousai's trap. Because if he calmed down, he might discover that this felt…._good_.

_NO! NO, IT DOESN'T! IT DOESN'T FEEL GOOD! I AM A HITOKIRI! NOTHING FEELS GOOD TO ME EXCEPT KILLING!_

He struggled once more, in a last ditch effort escape what he was feeling. _I have to get away! I can't let this happen! I don't want it to feel good! I don't want his pity, and I don't want his kindness! And I don't want to be a weak and worthless person who needs affection from others! I'm already worthless enough! I HAVE TO GET AWAY! _His struggles became frantic, and he began to wail: "LET ME GOOOOOOO!"

But Battousai did not let him go. He simply held him tighter, and waited Jin'eh's struggles out. Growing tired once more, Jin'eh once again ceased fighting and simply sagged against him. He realized with terror that he was not going to win. His surrender was inevitable, and this thought caused him to whimper with despair. Immediately, he felt Battousai's arms tighten around him, and Battousai's hand run through his hair once more.

"Jin'eh," said Battousai. "Please calm down."

"No, Battousai!" whimpered Jin'eh. "Not unless you leave me alone! Please, I don't want you to do this to me! I don't like it! It …hurts!" That was not the right word, but it was the closest he could come, in his panic.

"Where does it hurt?" asked Battousai kindly, but Jin'eh was shaking too hard to respond. Battousai gently slid his hand between their bodies and placed his palm directly over Jin'eh's heart. Ignoring Jin'eh's gasp, he asked softly: "Here?"

Tears welled up in Jin'eh's eyes once more. He clenched his teeth together, trying to fight it, but knowing he was fighting a losing battle. He couldn't resist it anymore. He _had _to give in. If he didn't, something in him was going to break. As he began to shake uncontrollably, he heard Battousai whisper in his ear: "It's all right, Jin'eh. Just let it out."

Jin'eh released it then, throwing every negative emotion he'd ever felt into a wail that grew louder and more anguished until it built into an ear-splitting crescendo that echoed around the clearing, caused the girl (who'd been standing near them this whole time) to leap back in fright and scared a flock of birds that had been roosting in a nearby tree. Battousai was the only one who remained calm throughout it all, holding Jin'eh to him and rocking him gently as though he were trying to soothe a young child who had had a nightmare. Jin'eh wailed and wailed and wailed, sobbing without tears because he didn't have any left to cry. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to somehow shut out the pain he was feeling, but instead, all he could see in his mind was blood-huge splatters of blood on the walls, pools of blood on the floor, dried blood, fresh and dripping blood, all of it soaking the scenery, soaking him, soaking everything. Such a scene would normally have driven him out of his mind with excitement, but instead he felt terrified, sick, ashamed-all the negative emotions he'd repressed for so long came flooding back. Not knowing how to deal with this, he shuddered against Battousai and cried out his name softly. He felt the man hold him tighter, comforting him, protecting him. Jin'eh clung to him, wanting only to be kept safe and protected. He buried his face in Battousai's shoulder, sniffling softly as Battousai stroked his hair once more. For the first time since they'd started, his sobs were finally beginning to come under his control. He ever so slowly began to relax. Battousai continued to comfort him, murmuring in his ear that it was going to be all right. Jin'eh almost began to believe him. He closed his eyes and let himself almost drown in this kindness, this gentleness. _This feeling….this feeling is…good._

Once he finally admitted it to himself, he felt not anger, not shame, not even pain, but only a great flood of relief. He still wasn't sure if it was right for him to feel this way, but he no longer cared. It felt good and he didn't want it to stop. He nestled closer, not caring how utterly ridiculous he must look right now. He simply let himself enjoy this affection. Both his aching body and his tortured mind accepted it gratefully and longed for more. _Please, Battousai. Please stay with me. Please hold me and don't let me go. I need you. I don't want to be alone. I'm…scared. I'm all alone and I'm scared. _

"Don't leave me, Battousai," he finally begged.

"I won't, Jin'eh." It was a promise stated in the faintest of whispers, but it was a promise nonetheless.

With that, Jin'eh finally allowed himself to relax completely. He simply gave up and lay in Battousai's arms. He was content now, because he knew he was not alone in his suffering anymore. Battousai was with him. Battousai would not let anything bad ever touch him. _Thank you, Battousai. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. _He repeated this over and over in his mind until it became a sort of meaningless background noise for his thoughts. But he did not say it aloud. Instead, he laid his head on Battousai's chest and whispered: "I give up, Battousai. I surrender. It's over. You've won the fight."

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kenshin felt a great surge of relief when he heard those words. _Finally, _he thought. _Finally it's over. _He then allowed himself to relax as well. He had grown quite exhausted with the intense effort of calming the fallen Hitokiri. _But now it's over. It's finally over. And it worked, _he thought, looking down at the man who was nestled in his embrace. _I can't believe it, but it actually worked_.

Now what?

_What do I do with him now? I still don't know if he is going to try to hurt himself again. And he still has to face the fact that he's been captured, that he's a wanted criminal, that he can no longer fight. What is he going to do? How can I help him? _Kenshin began to worry slightly that he'd made a promise to Jin'eh that he could not keep.

_No, I have to keep it. He needs me. But I don't know what to do for him. The police are going to come for him, even if I don't turn him in myself. He's spent the last ten years as an assassin. He's soaked in the blood of who knows how many people, and many of them are important politicians. They WILL come for him. And even if I could get him out of that mess, what is he going to do? He can't fight. And he won't listen to me if I suggest that he do something else with his life. He doesn't like anything else, or at least he thinks he doesn't. I could suggest that he try to atone for his crimes somehow, but I don't even know if he wants to do that. And how do I suggest he do that, anyway? He can't fight. What am I going to do? I don't know how to help him. But I can't give up. I promised to help him and I will! _He looked down at Jin'eh, who was still lying in his arms with a peaceful expression on his face. He looked almost strange with his harsh features softened and relaxed. Kenshin smiled gently at him, his desire to help him suddenly strengthened. _I'll find a way, Jin'eh. I promise._

He reached out and touched the other man's shoulder. Jin'eh stirred slightly, and murmured his name (actually, he murmured Battousai's name, but Kenshin was willing to let it slide for now). "Jin'eh," he said aloud.

Jin'eh looked up at him, his deep blue eyes soft and questioning. Kenshin was momentarily startled by how different those eyes looked. They were the same eyes that had terrified him the night they first fought at Tani's house, eyes that had reflected a psychotic, predatory joy during that battle, and during this battle tonight. Yet now they were reflecting a mixture of emotions-fear, sadness, uncertainty…and some kind of strange adoration. Their deep color made them very expressive, and Kenshin almost felt as if he could look right through them and see into the depths of Jin'eh's tortured soul. He wasn't quite sure how long he stared, but suddenly he realized that quite some time had gone by, he still hadn't said anything, and Jin'eh was still looking at him expectantly. He shook himself and then smiled kindly at the other man. Jin'eh hesitated for a long moment, then smiled back ever so slightly. Kenshin was slightly amused-Jin'eh looked like he didn't quite know how to do it properly. Kenshin let his smile broaden a bit. It was nice to be able to lighten the mood, even if it was only a little. "Jin'eh," he said finally. "Are you going to be all right?"

Jin'eh started slightly, as if he were not expecting such a question, but he dropped his eyes from Kenshin's and nodded slightly. However, Kenshin also felt him draw closer, almost fiercely, as if he were afraid that Kenshin was going to abandon him now. He didn't need to worry about that. Kenshin was only trying to see if he was up to talking, for they had many things to discuss if Kenshin was going to try to help Jin'eh. "Good," he said, still trying to smile comfortingly. "Jin'eh, it's time to talk about what happens next."

He felt Jin'eh start again, and a look of unhappiness clouded his features. But then Kenshin saw him visibly suppress it, and a moment later he spoke: "I know what happens next, Battousai. You're going to turn me in. That's what you were planning to do all along. I…" He hesitated, then continued. "I'll do it. I'll give myself up. It's time for me to take my punishment. You've beaten me fair and square, and so you may now turn me in and claim your glory."

Kenshin blinked at him in surprise. He hadn't expected Jin'eh to say _that_ in response. Was he really willing to give himself up just like that? Is that what he really wanted? No, it couldn't be. _He's doing this to…please me! _It was unbelievable, but that had to be it. _He's really willing to give up his _freedom_ for me_. But…that wouldn't be a real solution. Kenshin knew that while Jin'eh was now providing him with an easy way to get let off the hook, he couldn't take it. Because if he turned Jin'eh in, there was the very good chance that Jin'eh would be executed. His crimes were certainly executable offences, and even if they weren't, the police in this new age seemed to be a bit unscrupulous and might take matters into their own hands. And even if he wasn't executed, he'd spend the rest of his life locked up, all alone and miserable. That was no way to help him. He knew he could not do that. He looked down at Jin'eh once more.

"Do you really think that that is what I want?" he asked. Jin'eh looked surprised by this question, but Kenshin continued: "What I _do_ want is to know what _you_ want."

"What…I want?" Jin'eh did not appear to believe what he was hearing. "You want to know what _I_ want?"

"Yes," said Kenshin. "How else can I figure out how to help you?"

Jin'eh's jaw dropped. He blinked at Kenshin stupidly, then opened and shut his mouth several times as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't quite figure out what. Finally, he managed to stammer: "You…..want to…..help me_?_"

"Of course," Kenshin laughed slightly. "Why do you think I've been _doing _all this?"

For the longest time, Jin'eh simply looked up at him with astonishment. Then, slowly, his expression changed. It softened, and Kenshin suddenly saw something that he had never seen in the other Hitokiri's eyes before. Jin'eh was looking at him with something like…_affection. _

_No, that couldn't be it. _He was quick to deny what he had seen. It didn't scare him, but he simply could not believe that his former adversary would look at him that way. He looked back, hesitantly, and saw that Jin'eh was still looking at him with the same expression.

"Battousai," Jin'eh said softly, in a gentle tone Kenshin had never heard from him before. He buried his face in Kenshin's shirt once more. "Oh, Battousai," he said again.

Kenshin suddenly felt the wretched man make a pitiful attempt to embrace him with only one arm. It didn't really work, but he could tell that it was lovingly meant. He gently reciprocated, then gave Jin'eh a kindly pat on the back. Jin'eh looked up at him once more, his expression tender, but serious.

"Thank you, Battousai," he whispered. He lay there for a moment longer, then finally sat up.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Jin'eh left that warm, protective embrace reluctantly. He knew it was time, that he couldn't stay like that all night, but he also realized with an aching sadness that he would almost certainly never be held like that again. He sat up and supported himself with his left arm, fighting off a slight attack of light-headedness. Battousai put his hand on Jin'eh's shoulder, also helping to support him. When Battousai seemed to be sure that Jin'eh was not going to topple over, he let go and started digging in his pocket for something. His balance regained, Jin'eh reached up to brush the hair out of his eyes, and suddenly realized that his face was filthy. Although he himself could not see it, he knew what it must look like, covered with dirt, tears, snot, and drool. He wished he were still wearing his top, so that he could wipe his nose on his sleeve. He tried to make do with the back of his hand, but then realized that his hand was just as filthy, and that it was only making his face dirtier. Giving up on keeping up appearances, he looked up and saw Battousai holding out a handkerchief. So that was what he had been looking for. Jin'eh took it gratefully and wiped the crud off his face and blew his nose. Then, crumpling it into a little ball, he held it out and asked hesitantly: "Do you want it back? It's…uh...kind of messy now."

"Don't worry about it," said Battousai, taking it gingerly. "I'll wash it when I do the laundry tomorrow."

The _laundry?_

Jin'eh looked at Battousai as if he'd misheard. But the expression on Battousai's face told Jin'eh that he was serious. A moment of stunned silence followed, before Jin'eh managed to say: "Um, yes. Of course. Well, th-thank you."

"You're welcome," said Battousai, putting the handkerchief back in his pocket. "Jin'eh, now I'd like to know how I can help you. What can I do? I'll do anything I can to help."

He sounded almost like a salesman. Jin'eh was mildly amused by this, but he also couldn't understand why Battousai was so eager to help him, why he was being so nice to him. But now was not really the time to ask, he realized. Battousai was looking at him, waiting for an answer. Jin'eh looked down at the ground, trying to think. He quickly realized that even though Battousai was willing to do anything to help him, it was of no use. Because Battousai could not give him the one thing that he really wanted. That panicked, empty feeling returned, and he felt familiar tears of despair well up in his eyes. He blinked them back (he'd had enough of crying for one night) and looked back up at Battousai.

"Thank you, Battousai. But…there is nothing you can do for me." Battousai started to say something, but Jin'eh cut him off. "I know you are willing to do anything in your power to help. But you know as well as I that some things are beyond your power. And this is one of them. You…..you can't give me what I want. You can't fix this." Jin'eh placed his hand on his broken elbow.

"Jin'eh…." Battousai started to say, then stopped. He looked like he was considering continuing, but then seemed to change his mind. He sat there quietly for a moment, then looked up at Jin'eh. "No, I can't, Jin'eh," he said finally. More silence followed before he spoke once more: "I can't fix that, but I truly don't believe that you should give up. You can't be a fighter anymore, but that doesn't mean that your life is over. You can be happy if you do other things with your life. I truly believe that you can."

Another sentimental speech. Jin'eh felt a rush of familiar annoyance, but this time he forced himself to keep his mouth shut. He didn't really want to say mean things to Battousai anymore. Besides, Battousai…...well…he _was_ only trying to help. Jin'eh stared at his feet, trying to think of a _nice_ way to tell Battousai that he was full of shit. However, some of what he was feeling must have crept into his expression, because he heard Battousai say: "I know moving on doesn't sound appealing to you right now, but I really believe you should give it a chance. You don't know that you can't be happy being something other than a killer. Personally, I _know_ that you will be happier being something else. Because if you look deep within yourself, you have to admit to yourself that killing people doesn't really make you happy, don't you?"

Jin'eh was utterly taken aback. Such a thing had never even occurred to him in all his days as a Hitokiri. His first instinct was to deny it, to tell Battousai that he didn't know what he was talking about, but even at that point he knew he would only be taking the easy way out if he did that. Instead, he followed Battousai's advice and looked deep within himself, into that cold, dark, ruined mess that was his soul. And the last tiny wisp of humanity that was still there was surprisingly easy to understand, even though it whispered. _I hurt, _it said faintly._ I suffer. I'm in pain. _

Jin'eh could not bear to listen anymore. He shook his head frantically, trying to clear it. He didn't like these thoughts, these feelings. That he might have been unhappy all this time and not even known it… It was a thought that seemed to come from nowhere, but the utter _certainty _of it unnerved him. He felt he could not argue with that voice. _What the hell is the matter with me? Why am I suddenly so confused?_

Battousai. It had to be Battousai. Those sugary speeches must have finally gotten past Jin'eh's defenses. _That_ was what was the matter. He'd begun to place his trust in Battousai, and so he'd started to believe Battousai's foolish sentimentalities. _Of course, _he tried to reassure himself. _I'm feeling unsure of myself because I've just had a…difficult experience. I'm upset. And he's offering me…something. Something to take the pain away. And I want to believe him._

It was a beautifully stated argument. It made perfect sense. And it was complete and utter bullshit. Jin'eh knew he was just deluding himself, that he was just making a fruitless attempt to keep himself from having to face reality. He covered his face with is hand, trying to sort out these bewildering feelings. He had to try to dig deeper. He had to try to remember. Think past this night, and remember how he felt before. He thought back to the intense excitement he would feel before he would strike a planned target, to the incredible rush he would feel when he saw fresh blood stain the blade of his sword, to the amusement he would feel when he heard his victims scream_. _He'd enjoyed it to the fullest. _See, _he told the voice inside of him. _I did like it. You're wrong. You're _wrong. _I _DID _like it!_

But did it make him _happy?_ It hit him like a slap in the face that there was a difference between _liking_ something and finding _happiness_ in it. Gods, he'd never thought about it like that before. Fighting the splitting headache he'd gotten from screaming and crying (his broken nose didn't help much either), he tried to think once more, tried to remember all the times, _any _of the times, when he'd felt not simply pleasure, but happiness.

Flashes of memory, flashes of feelings. Pleasure…excitement…satisfaction. Nothing lasting. Nothing really strong enough to stand out either. Certainly, the feelings leading up to and during tonight's battle had been exciting, pleasant, powerful…but even they did not really feel like true happiness. More like the high from some exquisite drug. Nothing lasting, nothing…fulfilling.

He tried not to panic. He may not have been able remember any times when he'd been happy, but that didn't necessarily mean that Battousai is right. He couldn't truly remember a time when he'd been unhappy either, at least, not before this night. He reminded himself that he was a cold, empty, void Hitokiri. He wasn't supposed to feel anything. It was in his nature_._

Another load of garbage. He knew right away that it was not true. He'd certainly experienced his share of feelings (both good and bad) tonight. He was not a cold, empty, void Hitokiri, as much as he would have liked to believe it. Besides, he hated to admit it, but he _could _remember times when he'd felt…if not _unhappy, _then at least unpleasant. Many times. In fact, the longer he thought about it, the more times he could remember. Even after the brief pleasure of spilling blood, such feelings were there. He remembered how he would feel afterward, once the high had worn off. Empty. Not guilty, for he could never admit to himself that he could feel guilty about his crimes, but empty. And…_strange, _too. He couldn't quite pinpoint the other feeling, but it was an overall feeling of weirdness, of feeling that somehow, something was not quite right. Like he was not really living, but rather, existing, in a pointless life that consisted of, and would _always _consist of, nothing but searching for the next brief bit of pleasure. _And these feelings, _he finally admitted to himself, _they are…not…good. _They may not have been expressly bad, at least, not bad like the feelings he had struggled with tonight, but they were not good. And they overshadowed what pleasant feelings he did feel, consumed him, made it so that alleviating them (in the only way he knew how, through bloodshed) was all he could think about. _Battousai truly was right, _he finally admitted to himself. _I am so…unhappy._

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kenshin waited patiently while Jin'eh thought it over. He didn't dare interrupt this time. He could tell by Jin'eh's body language that he was having a serious conversation with himself, and he knew he could not say or do anything that might influence that conversation. This was something that Jin'eh needed to figure out on his own. It was hard, because he could see Jin'eh was clearly having a difficult time with it, but he forced himself to keep quiet. Instead, he urged Jin'eh on with his thoughts. _Come on, Jin'eh. You can do this. Just admit it to yourself. Once you admit it, you can start to heal. _He remembered back to how hard it had been for _him _to admit it to himself. He was certain that he had never actively enjoyed killing, the way Jin'eh had, but he and tried very hard not to let it bother him in all his days as a Hitokiri. He had always thought he was doing the right thing, and so he had forced himself to crush any feelings of guilt. However, once he had decided to stop, it had been one of the hardest things he'd ever done to admit that what he had been doing was wrong, and that he did indeed feel great shame for it. But after he hadadmitted it, it had made it easier for him to stop. And each time he remembered the unhappiness of his former life, it had always strengthened his resolve not to start killing again. _It helped me overcome my dark side. And it can help you too, Jin'eh. Please. Don't torment yourself any more. Just admit it._

"Kenshin?"

He looked up and saw Kaoru-dono standing nearby, with a look somewhere between concern and boredom on her face. _Kaoru-dono_. He hadn't forgotten about her, and he did feel bad about ignoring her somewhat, but it couldn't be helped. He couldn't concentrate on both Jin'eh and Kaoru-dono at the same time. And right now, Jin'eh needed him more. He knew Kaoru-dono was going to be all right. She just needed to be patient for a little while longer.

"Kenshin?" she asked again. She stepped closer, giving Jin'eh (who was sitting with his hand over his face) an uneasy sideways glance. "Kenshin, can we go home soon?"

"Kaoru-dono," he said. "Thank you for being patient." He lowered his voice, afraid of distracting Jin'eh. "We'll go home as soon as we can. I know you're tired, and I know you've had a difficult evening, that you have. But I can't leave here without settling this."

"How long will it take?"

He hesitated, knowing she would not be happy with his answer. But he had to be truthful with her. "I don't know. As long as he needs. I don't want to rush him, that I don't. He needs time to think."

"Why are you coddling him?" she snapped. "He tried to kill us!" Kenshin's heart jumped as he saw the familiar look of anger on Kaoru-dono's face. "Why don't we just turn him in and go home? We don't owe him anything! He's a murderer, and a lunatic as well! _I _don't care about him, and I don't understand why _you_ do!" Kaoru-dono's face was red with anger, and it looked like she might start crying tears of rage at any minute.

"Kaoru-dono," he said, trying to sound as calm and neutral as possible. "Please keep your voice down." He glanced over at Jin'eh, and was relieved to see him still sitting with his hand covering his face, almost as if he hadn't heard them at all. Kenshin realized that he probably hadn't, for he looked quite lost in thought. And unhappy, too. He looked back up and realized that Kaoru-dono looked unhappy as well. In fact it looked like steam was going to come shooting out her ears any moment now. She opened her mouth, and he heard her take a deep breath, as if she were planning to completely and whole-heartedly defy him.

Summoning his Hitokiri's speed once more, Kenshin leapt to his feet, stepped quickly over to Kaoru-dono, and placed a hand gently over her mouth. Whatever she had been planning to yell at the top of her lungs became a muffled "MMMMPPFF!" instead. She struggled against his hand for a moment, still trying to yell something, and then he felt her _bite_ him.

He pulled his hand away with a loud "ORO!" Leaping back, he shook it vigorously while staring at Kaoru-dono with surprise. She stood there with her arms crossed, glaring at him with an _it-serves-you-right kind_ of expression. He opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it. "Don't tell me what to do, Kenshin." Her voice was full of quiet anger, but at least it _was _quiet. "I'm not going to inconvenience myself for him. If I want to be loud, I'm going to be loud. I don't care about his feelings or his problems. He's evil. EVIL! And I don't understand why you'd want to help him. Why would you help a man who tried to kill you? Why would you help a man who tried to kill ME?"

Ah. So that was it. He understood now. He walked back up to her and gently placed a hand on each of her shoulders. She looked as though she were going to try to shake him off, but then stopped. Her expression softened as she looked into his eyes. Kenshin smiled at her.

"Kaoru-dono, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it seem like I don't care about you, that I didn't. You know that's not true. I just…well, I'm stuck in a bind. I want to take you home. You know that I do. I'm very worried about you, that I am. It must have taken a great deal of energy to break the Shin no Ippou, and I know you need to rest. If anyone deserves my undivided attention after a fight, it's you. But…" he paused, looking for the right words. "I also know that you are very strong. Though you may need me right now, I know you will be all right even without my help. But I don't think I can say the same thing about Jin'eh. Can you understand?"

Kaoru-dono looked at him without saying anything for a moment. Her eyes left his momentarily, focusing on something off in the distance. Then she looked back. "I understand, Kenshin," she said finally. "I understand that part of your argument. But what I don't understand is why you want to help him in the first place. You stopped him from killing us. And you've stopped him from hurting anyone else by breaking his arm. You stopped yourself from killing him. And you stopped him from killing himself. Isn't that all you're obligated to do?"

_All he was obligated to do. _He'd never thought about it that way before. He supposed on some level, Kaoru-dono was right. He _could_ just give up on Jin'eh right now, and no one would think any worse of him. He'd still be considered the hero who saved the day. But he also knew that deep down inside him, he'd never forgive himself if he did that. Because Jin'eh needed him. He was all alone and frightened. He needed someone. _Anyone. _And Kenshin was the only person he knew, the only person he trusted, the only person he thought might give a damn about him. Kenshin could not abandon him. _Besides Kenshin, _he reminded himself, _you've already broken down everything he's ever believed in. You are now _obligated _to build him back up again._

He looked at Kaoru-dono once more. He saw with surprise that she was smiling at him. "I know, Kenshin," she said. "You've never settled for just doing what is expected. You've always had to do what you think is right. And I know it doesn't matter if I don't agree with you. You are going to do what in your mind is the right thing, whether I like it or not."

"Kaoru-dono…" he began.

"I won't stop you, Kenshin. Just promise me you'll try to wrap this up in an hour." With that, she turned and went over to the benches in the center of the shrine area. Sitting down on one of them, she turned to look back at him. When she saw that he still had not moved, she made a motion with her hand-_go on, go on._

Kenshin smiled his thanks at her, then turned and went back over toward Jin'eh, who was still sitting in the grass. Kenshin noticed that it looked as if Jin'eh had reached some sort of unhappy conclusion to the question he'd been asking himself. He was sitting with his knees drawn up toward his body. His left arm was resting on top of them, and he had his face buried in that arm. Kenshin wondered if he was crying again. He sat down next to him and gently placed a hand on his back.

Jin'eh jumped slightly but did not raise his head. Now that he was sitting next to him, Kenshin realized that he was not crying, but was instead _sulking_, like a child trying to avoid having to deal with something unpleasant. "Jin'eh…" Kenshin said.

"You were right, Battousai. You are always right. Gods, I've been such a _fool._" Jin'eh's voice was thick with the threat of tears.

"It's all right. It's good that you were able to admit it. I'm proud of you. You may not realize it now, but you've just taken the first step toward making things right."

"How does it make things right, Battousai?" Jin'eh finally raised his head to look at him. "How does admitting that I'm an idiot change anything? I'm an idiot! There! I said it! I'm an idiot, and I'm an evil, psychotic, stupid, ugly murderer who deserves to die!" Jin'eh ripped up a handful of grass and threw it. "There! I've said that too! But it doesn't change what I've done! Nothing's changed!"

Kenshin was silent while he waited for Jin'eh to calm down. Finishing his angry outburst, Jin'eh rested his arm on his knees once again and sat there sulkily. Kenshin looked over at him to say something and noticed with interest that Jin'eh's expression had changed. He still looked angry, but he no longer looked like someone who was trying to win an argument. Instead, he looked more like he was waiting for Kenshin to contradict him. _He's actually ready to listen to me!_ Trying to keep his smile from showing (he was afraid Jin'eh might think he was being smug), he patted Jin'eh on the back and said: "I know it doesn't seem like anything's changed on the surface, but inside of you, something has. You have now acknowledged that what you have been doing is wrong, that you have. You've admitted to yourself that you don't want to do it anymore. You are now ready to try to make things right."

"And how can I do that, Battousai? You know I can't bring any of the people I killed back to life again." Jin'eh stared at the ground, avoiding Kenshin's eyes. He no longer looked angry. He just looked like someone who was lost and wanted help.

"No, you can't," said Kenshin. "And I can't bring any of the people _I _killed back to life either. But I'm not giving up. I know I can't change the bad things I did, but I also know that I have the power to inside me to commit as many good works as I have bad works. Maybe even more. I don't know if the two will cancel each other out, but I do know that helping people makes me feel better, it makes me into a better person, and, above all, it's the _right _thing to do."

"But _I_ can't do what you do," said Jin'eh. "I know you're atoning for your crimes by protecting people. But I can't do that. I can't fight anymore. And I don't know anything else. What can I do?"

"There are other ways to atone. Other ways to help people besides fighting for them. I'm sure even a man with only one arm can find a way to help others." Kenshin smiled reassuringly at Jin'eh.

"So what am I supposed to do, Battousai? Get up, walk away, and start looking for babies to rescue from burning buildings?" Jin'eh made no attempt to hide his sarcasm. "You know it's not that easy. I'm a wanted criminal. And I don't have any special skills other than fighting. It's all well and good for _you_ to say that going out into the world and helping people is easy and makes you feel better. But that's because _you_ can do it _your_ way. You're a Hitokiri. You are a fighter, even if you don't want to kill anymore. By protecting people, you get to atone for your crimes _and _do something you are good at at the same time. But that's not an option for me. And I don't have any other skills. I can't _do _anything else! And I don't have anyone to teach me anything else, even if I wanted to learn how. And to top it all off, the entire government wants to see me dead!"

_Boy, he painted a bleak picture. _Kenshin realized sadly that much of what he said was true. But it was still no excuse for giving up. "I didn't say it would be easy, Jin'eh," Kenshin said. Jin'eh looked down at the ground, his expression quite unhappy. Kenshin rubbed Jin'eh's back comfortingly while he tried to figure out what else to say. However, Jin'eh must have interpreted his silence as hurt feelings, because he suddenly looked back up at Kenshin, his face worried.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you. I know it's not your fault about my arm. You had to stop me one way or another. And I know it's not your fault about the mess I'm in. It's my fault. All of it. _I _did this, and I know that I have to try to fix it. I just wish that I knew what to do! I just wish that I wasn't all alone!"

Kenshin was dumbfounded by the apology, but it was the second part of Jin'eh's statement that really caught his attention and confirmed his suspicions. No wonder he was worried. He was scared of being abandoned. Well, there was no need to make him worry unnecessarily anymore. He looked at Jin'eh, his expression serious.

"You are not alone, Jin'eh. You have me."

"No, I don't, Battousai." Jin'eh looked back down at the ground. "You don't want me." His voice was a quiet, despairing little whisper.

"Yes I do." Kenshin placed one hand under Jin'eh's chin, gently moving his head up and forcing him to look at him. "I won't leave you. I'll always be with you, and I'll always help you in whatever way I can. You will never be alone, Jin'eh. That is my promise to you."

Kenshin held out a hand. Jin'eh looked at it hesitantly, then reached out and took it. They shook, the promise sealed.

"Why are you so good to me, Battousai?" asked Jin'eh, having trouble meeting Kenshin's eyes. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Everyone deserves to be helped when they're in trouble, Jin'eh. And I told you, that's what I do. I help those in trouble."

"Ah, so that's it." Jin'eh's face fell slightly. "I'm just one of those people you are helping to make yourself feel better."

Kenshin tried to reassure him. "That's partly true, Jin'eh. But there is also more to it then that. I feel a special need to help you. After all, you're a Hitokiri too. That makes you kin in a way. Can't you see we have a unique bond?"

It worked. Jin'eh's face lit up. "Yes, Battousai." He was practically beaming. "I knew it the moment we met." His face fell again. "And I _still_ tried to kill you. I…I'm…" Jin'eh looked like saying the words physically pained him, but he seemed determined to get it out. "I'm sorry, Battousai."

Kenshin smiled, willing to make peace. "It's all right, Jin'eh. Just don't do it anymore."

"I won't, Battousai. "I…I promise."

Wow, Jin'eh was really eating out of his hand. Kenshin had the sneaking suspicion that if he'd asked Jin'eh to dress up like a schoolgirl and sing "Sakura," he'd have done it. Having no such desire, Kenshin instead said: "Good. I really hope you'll keep that promise, that I do. Now let's figure out what to do. I'm sure we can think of something."

"We." Jin'eh smiled ever so slightly, and it was a natural smile, one that softened his harsh features and was a welcome change from his usual malicious grins. "Maybe we really can..."

Kenshin smiled, hoping he could keep his promise. He didn't want to admit it, but he still didn't really have any ideas on what Jin'eh could do with his life. But he also realized that some people are simply harder to help than others. It would be easier if he only had to rescue Jin'eh from some evildoer's clutches. But instead, he had to rescue Jin'eh from himself. However, he thought he was doing all right so far, even if it wasn't as easy as rescuing Yahiko from gangsters or rescuing Kaoru-dono from Himura Gohei.

Himura Gohei. _Himura Gohei!_ Of course! That was it!

"Of course!" he said aloud. "Himura Gohei! Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Huh?"

"I've got it!" Kenshin grinned. "Jin'eh, I want you to remember everything I've said to you. I want you to take it to heart. Because you really do need to learn to broaden your horizons, to learn to like other things, if you're truly going to live a normal life." He continued, his smile growing: "However, I also know that as a Hitokiri, fighting is very important to you. And I know you want to use it to atone for your crimes, the way I do. And I think that you can. I truly believe there's hope."

"What?" Jin'eh looked utterly surprised, but there was also a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes. "How, Battousai?"

"I knew a man who was a fighter. Well, actually, I didn't _know _him, but I met him. He enjoyed hurting people the way you did. So one day, his sensei broke his right thumb. He said it would prevent him from ever holding a sword with that hand again. And he was right. However, that man then trained himself to fight with his other arm. He re-learned his entire fighting style with his left hand."

Jin'eh looked as if he didn't know what to think of this. "And it worked?"

"Oh yes. I fought against him. He was a capable enough fighter, even if he really wasn't a match for me."

"I don't believe it! Such a thing could not be possible!"

"Believe it. It happened. And he was only an average fighter. Imagine what a Hitokiri could do. I'll bet you could become a master at fighting once more, perhaps even better then you were before."

"I….could fight again. I could fight again! _I could fight again!" _Kenshin had the feeling that if Jin'eh had been standing up, he might have started dancing around. "I don't believe it! You are sure this is true?"

"Quite sure. Do you want to do it?"

"Of course! Of course I do!" He suddenly looked at Kenshin. His face became serious all of a sudden. "But Battousai, wouldn't that undo everything you've done? If I become a fighter again, you run the risk that I'll become a killer, too. Are you really willing to trust me?"

"Yes," said Kenshin. "I believe in you. And besides," he stopped as an idea occurred to him. An incredible idea. An idea that was sure to leave him with plenty of lumps on his head. But he couldn't turn back now. "Besides," he said again, "the style you are going to learn is a style that does not kill. It is a style that protects people." He paused, less for effect than for the fact that he was actually afraid to say it out loud. Finally, he got up the nerve to blurt out: "Kamiya Kasshin Ryu!

"WHAT?" Kaoru-dono's shocked, angry voice reached his ears like the screeching of an enraged tanuki. With a speed a Hitokiri would have envied, Kaoru-dono leaped to her feet and rushed over to him. "KENSHIN, WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"I…er….I said he was going to learn Kamiya Kasshin Ryu."

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Kaoru-dono picked up a stick that was on the ground and hurled it at Kenshin. Kenshin was knocked flat on his back, and lay there mumbling "ORORORORO!"

"ABSOLUTLY NOT!" yelled Kaoru-dono, although Kenshin was not sure if she was talking to him or to Jin'eh. "I AM NOT TEACHING KAMIYA KASSHIN RYU TO THIS…THING!"

"What is this style?" he heard Jin'eh ask.

"Kamiya Kasshin Ryu is my father's fighting technique! And I'm not going to disgrace it by teaching it to you! Kenshin may want to help you, but I don't! I HATE you! If it were up to me, I'd have let you turn yourself into a shish-kabob and left it at that! I'd be at home in bed right now, and you'd be watering the grass with your blood!" She turned her back on them. "I'm not helping you and that's final!"

Kenshin got up. He went over to Kaoru-dono and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Kaoru-dono…" he said.

"Save it, Kenshin. My mind's made up." She suddenly turned to him, with a hurt expression on her face. "Kenshin, how could you volunteer my services without even asking me? You know how I feel about him. I don't want to help him, I don't want him in my life, and I don't even want to ever _see_ him again. How _could _you?" Tears glinted in the corners of her eyes.

He put his arms around her. He owed her that much. "Kaoru-dono, I'm sorry," he whispered. "It was all that I could think of. I _wanted_ to ask you first, but there wasn't time. The idea just came to me and I had to say it. Please, I know it sounds awful to you right now, but…won't you think about it? He needs our help."

"No, Kenshin. I don't want to help him."

"Why not, Kaoru-dono? Wouldn't it be nice to have another student at your dojo?"

"NO! Not if it's HIM! I'd rather my dojo went broke or burned to the ground then have him as one of its residents!"

That didn't sound promising. Kenshin could understand why Kaoru-dono felt the way she did. However, he also knew that this was the best solution for Jin'eh. He _had _to try to get Kaoru-dono to agree. He decided to take the rational approach.

"Kaoru-dono?" he asked. "Why don't you want him as your student?"

Kaoru-dono looked at Kenshin as if he'd gone crazy. "Why? Gee, maybe because he tried to kill me! And you, too," she added.

"He is sorry for that. You may not have heard him, but he apologized."

"So what? I don't believe him. And even if he really _is _sorry, I don't forgive him! Do you have any idea what it's like to suffocate? To suffocate and watch someone you care for get hurt at the same time? It was the worst thing I ever experienced! And now you're asking me to take the man who did that to me into my home? How could you?"

"Kaoru-dono, I'm sorry for what he did to you, that I am. It wasn't right. It was very, very wrong. But he _is _sorry for it. He really is. I can see it in his eyes. And there is nothing he can do to change it. But he wants to try to atone for it. And to do that, he needs to have someone help him learn to fight again."

"But he is a killer! Even if I were willing to let what he did to you and me go, it still doesn't change the fact that he's killed so many others. I don't even want to imagine how many people he's killed. I don't want a man like that at my dojo."

"Kaoru-dono," he said suddenly. "Why did you take me into your dojo?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just tell me."

"Because I like you! You're kind and gentle and brave and you saved me from Himura Gohei, remember?"

"Yes. And you took me in, even though you knew I was a Hitokiri, right?"

"Yes. I don't care about your past. I don't care what you've done. I don't-Oh!" Her eyes widened as she realized that Kenshin had caught her in a trap.

"Don't you see, Kaoru-dono? You already have a man like that at your dojo."

"No, Kenshin," she said desperately. "You're not like that at all! Don't you ever compare yourself to him! You are so much better than him. You are a good man! You may have committed some crimes, but you're making up for them!"

"Yes, but I was once like him. I was once lost and frightened, guilty of so much, and longing to repent. Exactly as he is now. The only difference between Jin'eh and me is that you have seen Jin'eh at his worst, and you haven't seen me. It's easy for you to pretend that I haven't done anything wrong. But I have. You've just never seen it." He sighed. "That's not really fair to Jin'eh, now, is it?"

"Oh, boo-hoo," she said sarcastically.

"But you know that I'm right. If you admit that I deserve a second chance, then you have to admit that Jin'eh deserves one too."

"All right, fine!" she said, flustered. "He deserves one too."

"And to get that second chance, he needs someone to help him learn to fight again, right?"

"Why does it have to be me?"

"You're one of the only swordmasters I know. And your style would be perfect for a reformed killer, that it would. It would let him try to make up for his crimes by protecting people, but at the same time, it would stop him from killing again."

"But Kenshin," she said, her face worried. "What if he's faking it? He could just be pretending that he's sorry so that he can avoid being punished. And if he is, then he could decide to murder all of us in our sleep some night. You have to accept the fact that if we take him in, we're putting ourselves and others in danger!"

That thought _had_ occurred to him. But he didn't think Jin'eh was faking it. He could tell by his words and actions that the Hitokiri was sincere. Unless of course, Jin'eh was the greatest actor in all of Japan. But Kenshin didn't think so. Jin'eh didn't seem like the type. "That _is _a chance we would take, Kaoru-dono. But I really don't believe he is acting. And besides," he said, lowering his voice, "It will take him forever to relearn to fight with his left arm. He won't really be of much threat to anyone. And I'll be watching him like a hawk, to make sure he doesn't try anything."

"But Kenshin…" Kaoru-dono sounded nervous, as if she were afraid she were losing the argument. "The…the police are after him! The police are after him!" She sounded like she was grasping desperately for a straw. "He's a wanted criminal. They will find out if we keep him at the dojo. Remember how fast they found out that you were there? They'll find him, and then we'll get arrested too, because we hid him there!"

"That _is_ a problem. But I think I've figured out what to do about that, too. Remember how Mr. Yamagata offered me a government position? When I turned it down, he was disappointed, but he also said that instead, since I wasn't taking the job, the government still owed me. I never planned to ask for that "debt" to be paid back, but I guess plans change, that they do. Perhaps he would be able to work out a full pardon with the proper authorities."

"He's not going to like that, Kenshin. I don't think he'd be very popular if word got out."

"_If._ He is powerful. Sometimes I think that man could wipe Kyoto off the map and cover it up so no one's the wiser."

"It sounds unscrupulous. Not like you at all, Kenshin."

"I know. I wish I didn't have to resort to dirty politics, but it's the only thing I can think of. And I'll make sure it doesn't hurt anyone."

"Well…" Kaoru dono paused, then sighed. "I've run out of arguments and I still don't want him there."

"Please, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin gave her his best pleading look.

"If I still said no, would you hate me, Kenshin?"

He sighed. He'd almost thought he'd gotten through to her. "Of course not, Kaoru-dono. I'd just be disappointed in you."

"Disappointed?"

"Yes. Even though you now know it's the right thing, you still refuse. And that makes me sad."

"Oh, all right!" she threw her hands up in the air. "I'll take that _creature_ on as my student! But he's your responsibility! You'd _better_ keep him out of trouble! If he does something bad using _my _fighting style, I'll never forgive you!"

"Thank you, Kaoru-dono." He put his arms around her and hugged her. She seemed as though she wasn't sure she wanted to accept it at first, but then she relaxed.

"I trust you, Kenshin," she whispered in his ear.

With that, the two of them turned and went back over toward Jin'eh.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Jin'eh waited patiently for them to finish their conversation about him, trying not to worry, even though he knew his future depended on the outcome of that conversation. He sat there uncomfortably (as people always do when they know someone is talking about them), holding the stick the girl had thrown at Battousai in his hand and pretending to look at it intently. When he heard them approach, he looked up hesitantly, not sure what their expressions would tell him. He immediately felt better when he saw that Battousai was suppressing a smile, and the girl's face wore a ferocious scowl.

"Congratulations, Jin'eh," said Battousai. He gestured toward the girl. "Kaoru-dono has just decided to take you on as her second student."

The girl simply glared at him.

"Thank you," Jin'eh said to her in a small voice. He tried to rise to greet her properly, but forgot that he had only one arm to do it with. He lost his balance and fell over backward with a loud Thud! Lovely. Managing to at least sit up again without much mishap, he tried to think of what Battousai would want him to say to her. "I, uh…a- appreciate your doing this for me. I know you don't want to but-"

"Shut up!" she said. "I'm doing this for Kenshin, not you! I don't like you and I NEVER will! Do you understand?"

"Yes," he squeaked, still taken aback at her transformation. She had been a bit feisty when he'd been holding her prisoner, but seeing her temper for the first time had been something to behold.

"Good!" she said. "Now don't talk to me again unless I address you!"

Jin'eh wanted to ask how he was going to be her student if they couldn't speak to each other, but he wisely thought better of it. Instead, he looked at Battousai, who merely rolled his eyes and shook his head. Not sure what to do next (since he couldn't talk), he just sat there stupidly and waited for one of them to address him again.

Finally Battousai spoke once more. "Kaoru-dono has agreed to let you stay at her dojo and be her student. Do you agree to these terms?"

"Yes, Battousai," he said quickly.

"His name is Kenshin!" snapped Kaoru.

Ignoring her, Battousai said: "Good. Learn Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. Become a swordsman who protects those who cannot protect themselves. Atone for your crimes. And," he added with a smile, "Find happiness."

It was a rather formal-sounding speech. Formal, but kind of nice too. However, it also sounded like the speech of a man who was now going to walk off into the sunset. Or, in this case, moonset. Jin'eh looked up at Battousai nervously. "You're not going to leave me now, are you Battousai?" Jin'eh was still scared of being left alone, but he was now even more scared of being left alone with this girl.

Battousai looked surprised. Then he seemed to understand what Jin'eh meant. "Oh no, Jin'eh," he said. "I'm not going anywhere. You see, I live at the dojo too."

"Oh!" Jin'eh was relieved, but a bit surprised as well. He knew this girl was Battousai's woman, but he hadn't been sure how close they were. Were they married then? He supposed he would find out son enough. "Oh," he said again. "I didn't know."

"Didn't know what?" asked Kaoru, a thinly veiled threat in her voice.

Jin'eh swallowed hard, afraid of making a faux pas and making things harder for Battousai. He could tell Kaoru was NOT happy with Battousai. "Didn't know…uh…that he lived there," he answered lamely.

"What are you implying?" she snarled.

Battousai quickly jumped in. "I live there, so I'll always be near. You can come to me anytime you need my help. And if you want to follow my path, to learn by my example, I have no objection."

Jin'eh wasn't sure how closely he wanted to follow Battousai's path (he didn't know if he _really _wanted to become a wussy-assed wanderer who went around making sappy speeches), but he did want to learn by his example, so he was grateful Battousai was going to be there. "Thank you, Battousai," he said. "I will. I will learn as much as I can from both of you. I trust you, Battousai. I still don't know if I believe in everything you've told me tonight. But I believe in you."

"And I believe in you, Jin'eh. However," he added, kneeling down next to him, "I still must issue this warning: Use the solution of Himura Gohei, but do not follow his path. Even though he re-learned to fight using his left arm, he still fought with the same evil desires in his heart. And for that I broke his left hand was well. Now he cannot fight at all. I know at some point you will also be tempted to fight again with evil in your heart. For your dark side is still within you, just as mine is within me. Do not give in to that desire. For if you dare defile Kaoru-dono's fighting style by using it to take an innocent life, I swear to you that I will break your left arm as well."

Jin'eh sucked in his breath ever so slightly. There it was, proof that, no matter how agreeable this situation might turn out to be, he was essentially a prisoner of Battousai's philosophy now. Of course, he'd already known he was, but to hear concrete proof like that finally made it real. It was a bit disconcerting, but he also knew that it was better than the alternative.

"That is my second promise to you tonight," said Battousai somberly.

"I won't let you down, Battousai," Jin'eh made himself say. "I promise." And he knew it was a promise he had to keep.

"Good," said Battousai, smiling once more. "Now let's go home."

"Hey Kenshin!" came a voice from the other side of the clearing.

The three of them turned to look. Jin'eh saw with surprise that the rooster-headed man had emerged from the bushes. "Hey, you two!" he said to them. "Did you win?" He finally noticed Jin'eh sitting at Battousai's feet. "Well, well," he said. "It looks like you did!"

"Sanosuke!" said the girl. "What are you doing here?"

"We were worried about you, so we came to see if we could help. I guess we didn't need to. We should have realized that Kurogassa would be no match for Kenshin." This was stated so mildly that it was impossible for Jin'eh to tell if the man meant for it to be sarcastic.

"We?" asked Battousai.

"Yahiko's around somewhere." He leaned against a tree, chewing on something that Jin'eh could not make out. "Hey Yahiko!" he called. "You missed all the action!"

"Man," said a younger-sounding voice. "I never get to be in the serious fights!" A moment later, a boy who couldn't have been older than ten or twelve came out into the clearing. "Is it really over?" he asked. "Are you okay, Kenshin?"

"I'm fine," said Battousai.

The boy looked over at Jin'eh. "Hey, is that him? Boy, is he ugly!"

"Yahiko!" said Battousai reproachfully, while the rooster-headed man just laughed. Then Jin'eh heard the boy say: "Hey Ugly! How come you look so grouchy?"

Jin'eh looked over at him, taken aback, thinking Yahiko was addressing _him. _He realized with a mixture of surprise and childish relief that he was talking to the girl, who was still standing there scowling.

"Yahiko." Her voice was quiet, but the anger in it seemed barely contained. "You are not supposed to be here. You are supposed to be at home."

"Well _sorry _if I thought you might need some help."

"Uh, why don't we finish these conversations at home?" said Battousai. "I'm sure we're all tired. There will be plenty of time to talk later."

"Fine," said Sanosuke. "Are we going to drop Corpse-Face off at the slammer on our way home?" He gestured toward Jin'eh.

"No, he's coming with us," said Battousai, while the girl gave an angry sigh.

"HE'S WHAT?" yelled the two of them in unison.

"He's going to be Kaoru-dono's student."

"WHAT?" said Yahiko. Sanosuke just stood there in shock. Finally, he burst out laughing.

"Great joke, Kenshin!" he laughed. "That would be the funniest thing ever!" He looked over at Jin'eh and started guffawing again.

"I'm not joking, Sano," said Battousai.

"What? You _have _to be!" Sanosuke looked at Battousai. When he saw that Battousai was not smiling or laughing, he said: "Kenshin, you _can't _be serious!"

"Don't _I _get a say in this?" asked Yahiko. "I don't want him hanging around when I'm trying to get some serious training done. Ugly! Why on Earth would you want this weirdo for a student? Did you get hit over the head with something?"

The girl gave him the Silent Treatment.

"What the hell is going on?" snapped Sanosuke. "Will somebody please explain this bullshit to me?"

Jin'eh sighed quietly while Battousai began the lengthy explanation. He was sure it was going to be repeat of the conversation he'd had with the girl. Not really wanting to listen a second time to how this was all crazy, how he was a creep who should be left to rot somewhere, and how this was never going to work (even if all of it was probably true), Jin'eh turned around so that his back was to them. He found himself facing the girl, who apparently did not want to join in the conversation either. He dropped his eyes from hers, not really knowing what to say to her. She simply made an angry face at him and turned her back. Sighing once more, he began to try to think of something else to do while he waited for Sanosuke and Yahiko to finish bad-mouthing him to Battousai. He suddenly wondered where his hat had gone. He scanned the clearing for it but did not see it. Black things were always hard to find at night. He tried to think back to where he had been when Battousai had knocked it off, but couldn't remember. He decided to look for it, since, from the sound of things, Battousai's conversation with the other two didn't seem to be getting very far. Remembering this time to adjust his balance to account for his arm, he managed to get to his feet and started off toward the other side of the clearing.

"And just where do you think you're going?" asked the girl.

"To look for my hat. Don't worry. I'm not going to run off. I'll be right back." He kept walking, hoping she wouldn't yell at him. He didn't want the others' attention on him again. He felt ridiculous enough already.

She did not, but he could feel her glaring at him as he searched the ground, trying to find that telltale patch of black. He must have searched for about five minutes before he finally found it at the base of a tree. Relieved (since this was his only one-Battousai had ruined the other), he picked it up and put it on his head, even though he knew he looked stupid wearing a hat and no top. He also spotted his scarf lying nearby, and he picked it up and stuffed it into his pocket. He debated whether to look for his swords as well, but decided that he wouldn't be needing them anymore, since he would almost certainly receive a sword more befitting to his new style from his new "master." That settled, he turned and went back over to the others.

They looked like they were just finishing their debate when he approached. All three of them turned to look at him. Battousai smiled at him, but the other two looked at him as if he were something that had just crawled out of a sewer. Not wanting to deal with this right now, he looked down at the ground intently and kicked at a rock that was sticking out of the dirt.

"I just can't believe this," said Sanosuke. "I just can't believe we're stuck with this jerk. Hey Asshole! My arms are still throbbing from that dirty trick you pulled last night!"

_Good._ Oops! The thought slipped out before he could squash it, and he had a feeling Battousai would not have approved of it. Still, at least he hadn't said anything out loud. He remained silent, hoping the rooster-headed man would leave him alone.

"Hey! Are you stupid or something? Ha, that's a dumb question! Of course you are. I'm talking to you! Answer me!" Sanosuke advanced threateningly.

"Sano." Battousai's voice stopped him in his tracks. "Leave him alone."

"But Kenshin…!" Sanosuke started to protest.

"Let's just go home now. We can discuss it later."

"Fine. You guys do look like you've had a rough time of it." He sighed. "All right, let's go."

Battousai started off first, leading the way. Rooster-head followed, and then Yahiko (after giving Jin'eh a weird look), and finally Jin'eh and Kaoru brought up the rear. Jin'eh noticed with weary amusement that they all fell into line like a group of ducklings, following Battousai.

They trudged wearily through the woods, none of them really having the energy to speak (except the boy, who was full of questions which nobody felt like answering). By this time, Jin'eh felt like he was walking in his sleep, and he had to concentrate hard on not tripping over any of the various tree roots or rocks that were on the path. It seemed like they were on that path forever, but he knew it could not have been that long, since it hadn't taken him very long to get to the shrine using this very same path yesterday. Finally, they began to see lights in the distance, and he knew they were getting near Tokyo. After a little while longer, they turned off the path onto the main road. After crossing a bridge, they came into the city itself.

At this very early hour, the only light came from streetlights and the moon. Tokyo always seemed like home to him when viewed like this. He, as a Hitokiri, was quite at home in the night and the darkness and the dead hours when most men slept. As they walked through the deserted streets, he could almost hear the silence of the city, and the whole scene took on a surreal quality. The moon was going down behind them, throwing their five shadows far in front of them on the road. The moon was still bright enough to blot out the stars overhead, but ahead of them, the constellations glittered in the east. They turned off the main road, heading down a tree-lined lane. It was only lit up by one streetlight at the end, but it was bathed in silvery moonlight. He stopped as he realized that it was beautiful. He smiled. It only lasted a moment, but in that instant, he realized with that he'd just taken pleasure in something other than bloodshed. It was a wonderful feeling to have on the very road that would take him to his destiny. Realizing that the others were getting farther ahead (they apparently hadn't noticed his momentary pause), he shook himself and started walking again, quickening his pace. Catching up to them, he set his pace so that he was walking next to Battousai. Battousai looked over at him, smiled, and mouthed one word: _Home._ Jin'eh nodded, ready to face whatever lay down this road, and together, the five of them walked down the long street, bathed in the light from the setting moon.

~Fin


	2. A Taste of Home

A Taste of Home

Kenshin sighed with relief as he, Kaoru-dono, Sano, Yahiko, and Jin'eh arrived at the dojo at last. The dark cluster of buildings that surrounded them seemed comfortingly familiar, and that was what he desired most after a difficult evening such as this. The group of them paused inside the gate for a moment before Sano asked: "Man, what time _is _it?"

"About three-thirty," replied Kaoru-dono shortly. She still sounded upset.

"Wow, that's late. Thanks a lot for making all of us lose sleep tonight, Dogshit." He directed this last comment toward Jin'eh with an annoyed glare. "Do you guys mind if I crash here for the rest of the night?"

"No," said Kaoru-dono, still in a flat, slightly annoyed-sounding tone. "You can stay in one of the back bedrooms."

"Thanks, Jo-chan," said Sano, starting off toward the main building. "Everyone, remember to watch your back tonight. I'm sure It From the Pit is planning to cut out our hearts once we're all asleep." He disappeared inside.

"Ha!" said Yahiko. "If he tries anything with me, I'll make him cry for his mother!"

Kenshin looked over at Jin'eh. Jin'eh looked as though he were getting tired of people talking about him as though he weren't even there, but was either too tired to say anything, or didn't want to make a fuss. He looked over at Kaoru-dono. She was standing there in stony silence, looking almost like she was pouting. He sighed inwardly, worried about her. He knew she had had a very rough evening, and now, with Jin'eh here, she probably felt like it was never going to end. He knew he needed to talk to her, to smooth things over, to help her sort through her feelings. But he decided that that could wait. What she _really _neededright now was rest. In fact, he knew they _all _would feel better with at least a few hours sleep.

"Why don't the rest of us get some sleep too," he said. "There's still a few hours left until the sun comes up. I'm sure we'll all feel better in the morning, that we will."

"What do you mean, better?" said Yahiko. "I feel fine!"

"Yahiko, go to bed!" Kaoru-dono snapped.

"Don't tell me what to do, Ugly!"

"Yahiko." said Kenshin.

Yahiko stopped and looked at him. He paused for a moment and then said: "All right, Kenshin. I'll go to bed. But I'm not tired!" He turned and went into the main building.

Kenshin looked back at Kaoru-dono, who was glaring after Yahiko, and Jin'eh, who was gazing around at the dojo with curiosity. "Let's go too," he said.

He started toward the door of the building. Kaoru-dono followed, and after a moment's pause, so did Jin'eh. However, this caused Kaoru-dono to stop in her tracks. She turned toward him and said: "Oh, no! Not you!" Jin'eh stopped, looking puzzled. She continued angrily: "You are _not _sleeping in my house!"

Jin'eh stood there, not knowing what to say. Kenshin sighed to himself. "Don't be silly, Kaoru-dono," he said. "There's plenty of room."

"I don't care," she said. "I don't want him sleeping anywhere _near _me!" When it looked like Kenshin was about to protest, she snapped angrily: "This is _my _dojo! _I _make the rules. If I don't want him sleeping in here, then he _isn't_ going to sleep in here! End of story!"

"Then where _will _he sleep?" asked Kenshin, while Jin'eh stared at the ground uncomfortably.

"He can sleep in one of the other buildings. Maybe the storage room." She paused for a moment, considering. "No," she decided. "It has too much junk in it. A lout like him probably wouldn't even fit in there. Besides, I guess I don't _really_ want him near my valuables. Hmmm….." She thought for a moment. "How about the pantry? It needs to be cleaned, but I'm _sure _he won't mind the dust."

"How about the outhouse?" yelled Yahiko from inside.

"Yahiko!" yelled Kaoru-dono. "Go to _bed!"_

"The…pantry?" asked Jin'eh, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, the pantry! Go sleep in the pantry like the dog you are!"

She turned angrily and started to go inside. "Um…" Jin'eh began hesitantly. She whirled around, looking at him as if she were trying to will the ground to open up and swallow him. "W-w-where is the p-pantry?" he stammered.

"I'll show him," Kenshin said quickly. "But Kaoru-dono, could he at least have a _blanket?"_

"Fine. Go get one out of the storage room." She turned to go back in, but then stopped, apparently changing her mind. "No, wait," she said. "_I'll _get one. I don't want him using any of the nice ones." She started off toward the storage room.

Kenshin looked at Jin'eh, shaking his head. Jin'eh just stood there. Finally Kenshin said: "It's all right. Come on, let's follow her.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kaoru stomped off toward the storage room, unable to shake her foul mood. She still couldn't believe that she was _doing _this. How could she have let Kenshin talk her into this? She didn't _want _Jin'eh here. These past few weeks, for the first time in a long while, she'd felt happy. She finally had friends, and she wasn't living all alone anymore. She had been looking forward to having a happy life with her new "family". And now, _this._ Just when she'd finally found _some _happiness, Jin'eh had to come along and ruin everything. Now she was going to have to be constantly on edge, always looking over her shoulder and worrying that that psychopath was going to hurt her or someone she loved. She was going to have to spend _time _with him. She was going to have to disgrace Kamiya Kasshin Ryu by teaching it to him. She didn't think she could _bear _watching him learn it, having to offer him advice, having to _praise _him if he did something right. And the lessons weren't the worst thing, either. No, the fact that he was living there at all was the worst thing. She was never going to be able to get away from him. He was always going to be there, no matter where she went. She was now going to have to worry about walking around in her own_ home, _for fear of running into him. How were things ever going to be normal again? She threw the doors of the storage room open with such force that they banged against the wall and bounced back, nearly shutting again. Angrily, she shoved them aside and went in. The storage room was quite messy, and at first she didn't see where the blankets were. Muttering to herself, she threw things around impatiently while she looked. Apparently Kenshin heard the crashes coming from inside because she heard him call out: "Kaoru-dono, do you want me to help you look?"

"NO!" she yelled. She finally spotted the blankets under a pile of old rugs. Sorting through them, she picked out the oldest, rattiest ones (she regretted that there weren't any left over from her early childhood, when she used to wet the bed). Gathering up an armload, she went back out the door. Kenshin and Jin'eh were standing outside with matching expressions of nervousness. Kaoru threw the blankets at Jin'eh with a loud "Here!" Jin'eh leapt backwards as if she'd just thrown a barrage of shuriken at him. Fortunately for him, Kenshin managed to catch them before they fell in the dirt. Satisfied that her duty was done, she walked off without saying anything, glad to be rid of the both of them.

"Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin called after her.

"I'm going to bed now! I'm not letting that creep keep me up one _second_ longer. Goodnight!" She quickly walked away before he could say anything else.

Going into the main building, she headed down the hall to the main sleeping quarters. Of course the light was still on and Yahiko was waiting for her. He began peppering her with questions before she even entered the room. He naturally wanted to know all the details of the fight, if Kenshin had used any new moves, and, of course, why the Kurogassa had followed them home. Not wanting to talk about it anymore, Kaoru told him to shut up. He looked like he was going to fire an insult at her, but she raised her sword threateningly. Whatever he had been planning to say was left unsaid, and he turned his back on her sulkily. Kaoru felt just the tiniest twinge of guilt. He _was _only curious, after all. A lot of things had happened tonight that he hadn't been there to see. Of course he was going to have questions. She suddenly felt a kind of kinship with him. She realized that, now that she had _two _students, Yahiko had just jumped to favorite student status. She smiled slightly at him. "Yahiko," she said.

"Hmmpf." He didn't turn around.

"Sorry I snapped at you. I'm just tired."

"Hmmpf."

"I'll tell you all about the fight tomorrow. I promise."

He turned his head. "You will?"

"Sure. We'll both have plenty of time tomorrow. I don't think I'll feel up to giving you a lesson tomorrow, so we'll both get the day off."

He looked happy about that at first, but then his eyes narrowed. "Are you really going to be too tired to give me a lesson tomorrow, or are you just trying to put off having to give that ugly guy a lesson? What's his name again? Jinky?"

"Who cares," she sighed. "I hope the pantry roof collapses on top of him tonight and kills him."

Yahiko started laughing. Realizing what a silly thing she'd just said, Kaoru started laughing too. Their laughter built until they were both chortling at the top of their lungs. Kaoru knew it wasn't really _that _funny, but after what she'd gone through, laughing like this felt good.

"He's a weirdo!" laughed Yahiko. "I'll bet he wouldn't even notice if the roof fell on him!"

"He's a stupid idiot, too!" Kaoru laughed. "I'll bet it'll take me two years to teach him how to block!"

"And he's so _ugly!_ He looks like a monkey!"

Kaoru fell over onto her blankets, she was laughing so hard. "You should have seen him tonight! Kenshin beat him, and he started crying like a little _baby!"_

This was too much for them, and they dissolved into hysterical laughter. When she finally regained her composure, Kaoru said: "Well, we'd better get some sleep." She actually was feeling more awake now, but she wanted to be in bed with the lights out when Kenshin came back so that she wouldn't have to talk to him.

"All right." Yahiko was having a tougher time regaining his composure. "A crybaby swordsman!" he snickered to himself as he blew out the lantern. As warm, comforting darkness enveloped Kaoru, she shut her eyes and let sleep take her.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kenshin had watched Kaoru-dono go, still worried a great deal. She had looked very upset, and he wanted to talk to her in the worst way. He wasn't sure if she was angry with _him, _or just with the whole situation, but whatever the reason, he didn't want her to be upset. He wanted her to be okay. He wanted to see her smile and hear her laugh again. _Kaoru-dono, _he thought, _please be all right. I hope I haven't hurt you too badly tonight. I really needed to do this for Jin'eh, but I also don't want to overlook your feelings. I'll do anything I can to make this right. _Finishing his imaginary conversation with her, he sighed softly and turned back toward Jin'eh. The other Hitokiri was standing there, looking lost. Kenshin smiled at him, wanting him to be all right as well. Jin'eh just stood there, looking like he wanted to run away. "Don't worry, Jin'eh," Kenshin said. "Kaoru-dono will calm down in the morning." He hoped. "Here, come with me and I'll show you where the pantry is."

He started off toward the other side of the courtyard. Jin'eh followed obediently, still not saying anything. The pantry was located toward the back end of the property, almost next to the back fence. It was a place where they kept most of their dry goods, like rice and flour. It was not used for cooking, and, since the dojo was poor, there wasn't even very much food stored in it. As a result, he and the others seldom went into it, and so it was very dusty and dirty from disuse. He went up the three rickety steps and opened the door (which squeaked so loud he was he thought it could probably be heard on the street). Inside, the room was very dark, but if he remembered correctly, there was a small lantern on a table near the entrance. Fumbling around in the dark, he finally found it and managed to get it lit. The pale glow illuminated a long, narrow room with a single window on the left wall. There were rows of shelves along the right side, upon which sat three pathetic-looking little rice bags, a bag of beans, assorted spice containers, and a few unlabeled jars. Near the door, on the right side, was the small table where he had gotten the lantern, and, on the left side of the door was a larger table with nothing on it but an empty jar. There was a long, low counter running along the left side of the room. It stopped just past the window, and after it were more shelves, which were empty. Along the back wall were several cupboards, which he knew contained extra dishes, pots and pans, and cooking utensils (apparently the dojo had housed many more students at one time). It was all very dusty, and didn't really look like a place where a person would want to sleep. "It's not very tidy, I'm afraid," he said, stepping further inside so that Jin'eh could enter. Jin'eh looked around the place in a disinterested way. He didn't exactly look enthusiastic, but he didn't look like he had a problem with it either. Kenshin glanced around, looking for a place where Jin'eh could sleep. He quickly spotted a space between two shelves on the right wall that was big enough for the Hitokiri to lie down in. It even had a small cupboard at one end, where he could keep his things (assuming it was empty, which was likely). "This looks like a good spot, that it does," he said to Jin'eh. "How about here?"

"Sure," said Jin'eh. He sounded tired.

Kenshin started to set the blankets down, but realized that the floor was filthy as well. In fact, he and Jin'eh were leaving dusty footprints behind. He sighed, looking for a broom. He located it leaning against the wall in the back right corner of the room, next to a small, empty bin that had probably been used as a wastebasket at one time. The broom and wastebasket both had cobwebs on them, and he realized that it had been a _long _time since anyone had cleaned this room.

Well, it wasn't too late to start now. "Here. Hold these," he said handing the blankets to Jin'eh. Jin'eh struggled with them, trying to hold them all with just one arm. When Kenshin was sure that Jin'eh was not going to drop them, he went over to the back corner and picked up the broom, brushing the cobwebs off. He returned to the space between the shelves and quickly swept up as much of the dust and dirt as he could. Realizing that he had no dustpan, he started to sweep the little pile of dirt toward the doorway, while Jin'eh squeezed against the wall to let him past. Reaching the doorway, he swept the dirt outside, down the steps, and onto the ground. He then went back inside and looked at his handiwork. Both the space between the shelves and the floor area between it and the door were clean. He decided that the rest of the floor could wait until later. He set the broom against the wall near the door, and then took the blankets back from Jin'eh, who was standing there in a daze, falling asleep on his feet. He spread most of them out on the floor, leaving one for Jin'eh to use to cover himself up with. They looked a little moth-eaten, and he wondered if Kaoru-dono had deliberately chosen them like that. Kenshin pointed at the cupboard, wanting to show Jin'eh his great idea. "You can put your things in here," he said, opening the door. A mouse scurried out the open door, startling him slightly. It ran across the blankets and out into the main walkway. With a single fluid motion, almost as if he were not even thinking about what he was doing, Jin'eh stomped a foot on the floor with incredible force, crushing the mouse. He then sent the little corpse flying into the shadows near the doorway with a sweeping kick. Stunned, Kenshin looked inside the cupboard to give himself time to recover. He saw no more mice, only a small jar of sesame seeds and, of course, a great deal of dust. When he was sure his expression had returned to normal, he shut the cupboard and looked back at Jin'eh. He was standing there with his eyes closed, looking like a sleepwalker. Kenshin chuckled and took his hand, leading him gently to the little space between the shelves. Jin'eh sat down with a plop, blinking sleepily at Kenshin. Kenshin removed his hat, placing it on top of the little cupboard. Knowing it would be difficult for Jin'eh to do it one-handedly, he also untied the long belt around Jin'eh's waist, so that Jin'eh could remove his outfit. As he reached down to pull off his shoes (Jin'eh wore Western-style shoes instead of sandals), he noticed that the Hitokiri's feet were pressed up against the side of the shelf. Maybe this arrangement was going to be a little snug after all. He shook his head slightly, knowing there was nothing he could do about it now. Hopefully this was not going to be his permanent bed anyway. "Don't worry," he said aloud, removing Jin'eh's shoes and, after a moment's thought, placing them in the cupboard. "I'm sure this arrangement isn't permanent. I'll try to talk Kaoru-dono into letting you move into one of the dojo's spare bedrooms as soon as I can."

"No, don't do that!" Jin'eh's eyes flew wide open and he clutched at Kenshin's sleeve desperately. "She's already mad enough at you! Please don't make her angrier! I don't mind sleeping out here! Believe me, I've slept in much, much worse places than this!"

"All right, all right," Kenshin said, trying not to upset him. "I won't say anything." _For now, anyway. _He noticed that Jin'eh had a pained look on his face, and he was rubbing his right elbow slightly. The sudden movement must have jarred his arm. "Are you all right?" Kenshin asked kindly.

Jin'eh nodded slightly, looking at the floor. "My arm hurts," he added in a small voice.

"Let me see," he said gently, placing his hand on Jin'eh's elbow. Jin'eh cringed, but did not pull away. Kenshin gingerly felt Jin'eh's elbow, trying his best not to hurt the man. He felt that the joint was most definitely crushed. There was no way it could heal properly, but it ought to be put in a sling so that it didn't flop around and cause him more pain. "I'll see if I can get Doctor Gensai to set this tomorrow," he said. Jin'eh looked like he wanted to ask who Doctor Gensai was, but didn't have the energy. Instead, he simply nodded.

"All right, Battousai," he said softly.

"That's another thing," he began. He wasn't sure if he wanted to get into this tonight, but he thought he'd better settle it as soon as possible so it didn't irritate Kaoru-dono. "My name isn't Battousai anymore. It's Kenshin. That is my real name." _Real enough, anyway, _he added inwardly. "Please, will you call me Kenshin? It's what all my friends call me."

"All right, Battousai," said Jin'eh.

Kenshin fought the urge to laugh. "Kenshin," he said instead.

"Kenshin," said Jin'eh, sounding like a schoolboy repeating a lesson.

"Good. Why don't you get some sleep now?" he asked. Jin'eh accepted this idea wholeheartedly, trying to lie down without falling over. Kenshin reached out and supported the Hitokiri with his arms, helping him to lie down.

"Goodnight," said Jin'eh softly. He closed his eyes and fell asleep before Kenshin even finished laying him down.

Kenshin covered Jin'eh up with the ratty old blanket. He sat next to the sleeping Hitokiri for a moment, unwilling to leave him here by himself. On an impulse, he reached out brushed a long tuft of Jin'eh's bangs out of his eyes. "You need a haircut, that you do" Kenshin chuckled softly. Jin'eh stirred slightly, but did not wake up. "Jin'eh," Kenshin whispered. "Sleep now. Sleep peacefully. May you fall into a gentle sleep without worries or bad dreams. Goodnight, Fallen Hitokiri. May you pick yourself up in the morning."

With that, he got up and started out of the pantry. He paused in the doorway, looking back at Jin'eh's sleeping form. He looked so vulnerable. _He will be all right,_ Kenshin reminded himself. He blew out the lantern and shut the door, wincing at the loud Creak! that the hinges made. He waited, but there was no sound from inside, so he must not have woken Jin'eh up. He started down the steps, hoping he'd made the right decision tonight.

As he started across the courtyard, he debated on whether to go into the main building and at least try to get some sleep for the remaining few hours before dawn, or go into the bathhouse and see to his wound. He decided to do the latter, since he didn't think he could fall asleep right now. He knew Doctor Gensai would fix up his shoulder tomorrow, but he wanted to at least _clean _it tonight, so it didn't get infected. He went into the bathhouse and spent the next fifteen minutes gently cleaning the gash, trying to be careful with it so it wouldn't start bleeding again. When he was satisfied that all the dirt and pus had been washed from it, he quickly cleaned up the bathing area (so as not to leave a mess for Kaoru-dono), and headed out of the bathhouse toward the main building. He still didn't think he would be able to fall asleep, but he didn't have anything else to do, so he thought he'd might as well try.

Entering the building, he moved with a Hitokiri's stealth to avoid waking the others. In the main sleeping area, the light was out, and Kaoru-dono and Yahiko were both asleep. As he went toward his room, he could hear Sano in one of the other bedrooms, snoring away. He entered his room without even bothering to light the lamp. He quickly removed his sandals and took off his sword belt. He slid under the blankets, hoping for sleep.

But it did not come. He knew it wouldn't. Despite the exhaustion of his body, his mind was wide awake and going over the events of this evening. They played out over and over in his head. He remained awake, staring at the ceiling, until the first rays of dawn began to filter through his window.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Despite Jin'eh's own exhaustion, he only managed to sleep about an hour and a half before he woke up again. Perhaps it was the pain in his arm, or perhaps it was the uncomfortable feeling of sleeping in a strange new place (or maybe it was something simpler, like banging his knee against the wall when he'd turned over in his sleep), but he was awake again before the sun had even started to come over the eastern horizon. He sat up and looked around, trying to remember where he was. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw that he was in a long, stuffy, dirty room with lots of shelves on the walls. It looked like a pantry. _The _pantry, he remembered, as last night's events came flooding back to him. The fight. Battousai breaking his arm. Battousai stopping him from killing himself. Battousai comforting him while he'd cried and cried and cried. He paused, lingering over that memory, wondering if it had actually happened. But it must have, because he could remember Battousai's words. _It's all right, Jin'eh. I won't leave you. I promise. _He sighed to himself, realizing what an ass he'd must have made of himself. He was surprised Battousai was able to put up with him. _Battousai…_ He remembered the agreement the two of them had come to-that Jin'eh was going to learn some new fighting style from that temperamental girl, whose name he had already forgotten. He was going to learn it using his left arm, and he was going to use it to protect people to atone for his crimes. _Gosh, what_ _a stupid idea._ It seemed so silly to him, now that he was looking at it with eyes that were not blurred by tears and a mind that was not clouded by self-pity. But he also remembered that there was no other choice for him, except jail. Or death. And jail was boring, and death was…what? Lonely?

He looked toward the window. Still no sign of dawn. He tried to lie back down carefully, but he slipped and fell back, banging his head on the cupboard. Swearing, he reached up to rub the back of his head, but then yelped as he got a painful reminder that that arm could not bend anymore. Deciding he'd better quit moving around before he killed himself, he lay back down and stared at the ceiling. He went over the events of last night once more in his head. _Gods, did he really do all that? Did everything he remembered really happen? Could this whole idea really work?_

It wasn't going to work smoothly, that he was sure of. He already knew everyone here (except maybe Battousai) hated his guts. He also knew that that was going to make this place a very uncomfortable environment to live in. And he knew that learning a new style with his left hand from a teacher who did not really want him to succeed was going to be a very difficult feat. But he also knew that it was going to be anything but boring. And that made it a hundred times better than jail. He also knew that he was more than willing to put up with a little humiliation if it meant that he could be a fighter again. Maybe this idea could really work after all. "Thank you, Battousai," he murmured. "Thank you for this second chance. I promise I'll find a way to repay you for this if it's the last thing I ever do." He smiled, pretending that Battousai had heard him and was happy. But of course no one actually heard him, except maybe the mice.

He realized that he could see the ceiling more clearly now. A cold, gray light was filling the room. _Dawn!_ He sat up and looked at the window. The sky was definitely lighter outside, even if the sun still had not come up yet. He got up carefully and went over to the window, hoping to get a better look at his new home in the early morning light. He only dimly remembered arriving here a few hours ago and following Battousai to this pantry. For some bizarre reason, he could remember Battousai sweeping the floor, but not much else. _Why was he sweeping the floor? Did I dream that?_ He reached the window and looked out, forgetting about Battousai's cleaning activities. From where he was he could only see two buildings: a small one to the far right, and the main one directly in front of him. There was a small back courtyard between his building and the main building. It was empty except for a lone training dummy, which hung desolately in the middle of the courtyard. He couldn't see much else from where he was. He looked back at the main building, wondering if the others were awake yet. He realized he could see lamplight in one of the windows, so someone must be up. He smiled-the lamplight looked soft and inviting to a man who was used to being alone in the world. It was simple pleasures like this that he'd missed most during his life as a Hitokiri. He almost wished he could go inside and be in that warm, comforting place, but he knew that he couldn't because he had no idea who was up right now. It could be Battousai, but it could also be the girl. He stood there for a while longer, staring out the window. The sun was turning the eastern horizon a brilliant pink. A bird started singing somewhere. Jin'eh began to wonder if someone was going to come and tell him when it was time to get up, or if he was expected to come out on his own. He decided to wait for someone to come, since he didn't want to get in trouble with that girl for wandering around without her permission.

He turned and went back over to the pile of blankets that was his "bed." As unappealing as it looked, he didn't really mind sleeping in it, because it was a lot better than some of the places he'd slept in during his life as an assassin. He'd slept in basements, attics, abandoned buildings, alleys, even caves. This was superior to all of them. He sat down again, slightly bored. He looked around for his clothes, thinking that he could at least dress himself while he waited. He didn't even remember getting undressed before, so Battousai must have done it for him. He looked around, wondering where Battousai had put his clothes. He saw his hat on top of the cupboard, but nothing else. Suddenly remembering the mouse incident from earlier, he opened the door to the cupboard. He immediately spotted his clothes, neatly folded up inside with his shoes next to them. He pulled them out and tried to dress one-handedly.

He quickly discovered that he could not do it. Not only was it far more difficult to put something on with only one hand than he'd imagined, he also found that it was incredibly painful to try to get his broken arm into his sleeve. He also knew that it was going to be even harder to put on his belt like this. How was he ever going to get it tied? With a sigh of annoyance, he put his clothes down and waited for someone to come. Hopefully, it would be Battousai. Maybe Battousai would help him get dressed again. He also hoped Battousai wouldn't be too long, because he kind of had to go to the bathroom…

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

When the sky outside his window had definitely begun to lighten, Kenshin decided it was silly to keep pretending to sleep. He got up and put his shoes and sword belt on again. He heard someone in the kitchen, so he decided to go out there and see if they wanted any company. He quietly tiptoed down the hall (so as not to wake anyone who might still be asleep) and entered the kitchen. Kaoru-dono was inside, drinking tea. "Good morning, Kaoru-dono," he said cheerfully. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, in the short time that I had." She smiled at him as she said it, and he was relieved that she didn't look mad at him anymore.

"How are you feeling this morning?" It was the most innocent way he could think of to inquire about her mood.

"Fine." She sighed. "Last night just seems like a bad dream."

"It _was_ unpleasant. But we got through it, that we did." He sat down at the table and poured a himself a cup of tea.

There was silence between them for a moment. Then Kaoru-dono looked down at her teacup intently. "Kenshin…" she began softly.

Kenshin cringed slightly, sure she was planning on chewing him out about Jin'eh again.

"Kenshin," she said again, looking up at him. "Thank you for saving me last night. At least let me say it."

"No, Kaoru-dono," he said quickly, slightly relieved. "It is I who should be thanking you. You stopped me from making a terrible mistake. I might have become the Hitokiri Battousai again, if you hadn't broken the Shin no Ippou on your own. Thank you."

He saw her quickly raise the teacup to her lips, trying to hide her smile. Finishing her drink, she lowered the cup and said: "I really didn't do _that _much."

"Yes you did. I know how much power it takes to break that technique. That you were able to break such a strong dose of it shows that you are truly a powerful swordmaster."

"I don't think I could have done it if I hadn't been trying to help you. I did it for you, Kenshin. Just as you were fighting for me. There is no difference between what we each did last night." She smiled at him.

"Yes, there is," he said, looking at her seriously. "What you did was far better than what I was planning to do. I didn't care if I took a human life or destroyed my own. I was only trying to save you. You found a way to save us all."

Although she still tried to hide it, Kenshin could see that Kaoru-dono was beaming. She remained silent for a while, still trying to keep her smile from showing. Finally giving up, she looked at him with a big grin on her face. "Then at least let me apologize to you for being such a jerk last night." She dropped her eyes from his. "I was just mad about…you know."

"Of course," he said quickly. "And I don't blame you. That was quite a big favor for me to ask of you last night, that it was. I'm very grateful that you agreed. I know you really don't want Jin'eh here, but I truly think that he can redeem himself, if we give him the chance." He touched her hand ever so slightly. "Thank you for helping him, Kaoru-dono."

She didn't answer, instead sipping her tea thoughtfully. Finally she looked at him again. "Why, Kenshin?" she asked. "Why did you want to help him so badly? I won't judge you, and I won't tell you you're crazy. I just want to know why you want to help such a…terrible person."

"Because I truly don't believe he is a terrible person. He is just a person who does terrible things. Remember, I was once the same way. I can understand what he's going through, and how he must feel." He took a sip of tea to give himself time to think. Finishing, he spoke once more. "At first I only wanted to stop him from killing himself, because it is my job to save human lives. But then I just felt this strange kinship with him. I knew I couldn't just leave him all alone. He _was_ suicidal, after all. I had to do something to make him want to live again. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Kenshin." To his relief, she was not frowning, but was instead laughing softly. "Your reasons are always so noble. I can never not agree with you, even if I want to."

He smiled. "Let's move forward now. Last night was terrible, but I'm sure we can all get past it."

Kaoru-dono finished her tea. "I'll try my best," she said as she got up and put her empty cup on the counter. Kenshin continued sipping his tea happily, glad that things had been smoothed over. But soon he felt Kaoru-dono's eyes on him. Looking up, he saw that she was frowning at him intently.

"What?" he asked.

"I just remembered that there's still one thing left to be settled." She walked over to him and held out a hand solemnly. "My ribbon, please."

_The ribbon. _He'd forgotten all about it. He tried to remember what he'd done with it when he'd cleaned his wound last night. Oh, yeah, he'd put it into his pocket. He reached into his pocket and got it out for her. His stomach sank as soon as he got a good look at it.

"Look at this!" Kaoru-dono shrieked, grabbing it from him. "It's ruined!"

"I'm sorry, Kaoru-dono. It must have gotten soaked with blood from my wound."

"Kenshin, you idiot! This was my favorite ribbon!" She grabbed the teacup and threw it at him. It hit him on the forehead and he fell over with a loud "ORO!"

"You're going to have to get me _another _indigo ribbon!"

"ORORORORORO!"

Giving up on him, she went over to the counter to get breakfast ready. He managed to get up after a moment. He debated on asking her if she wanted any help with breakfast, but decided he should probably give her time to cool down. Instead, he decided to go see if Jin'eh was awake yet. He went out the back door and across the back courtyard. The sun was completely up by now, and he could see that it was going to be another fine day, weatherwise. Reaching the pantry, he went up the steps and knocked on the door.

"Come in," came a muffled voice from inside.

Kenshin entered with a loud _Squeak_! Jin'eh was sitting in his bed, looking slightly nervous. His face quickly brightened when he saw it was Kenshin who had come in.

"Good morning, Jin'eh," said Kenshin.

"Hello, Battousai," said Jin'eh.

"Kenshin, remember?" Kenshin said, walking over to him.

"Huh?"

"Remember, I asked you to call me Kenshin last night."

"You did?" Jin'eh looked puzzled.

"You probably _don't_ remember it," said Kenshin with a laugh. "You were half asleep."

"Oh," said Jin'eh. "Sorry."

Kenshin laughed again. "Don't be," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"All right, I guess. But Battousai…er, I mean Kenshin," he looked down with evident embarrassment. "Will you help me put my clothes on again?"

Kenshin smiled at him. "Of course."

Jin'eh stood up while Kenshin helped dress him. He looked horribly embarrassed, and, as Kenshin tied his shoes, said: "I feel like a little _baby."_

"You will learn to do this on your own again. And in the meantime, I don't mind helping you."

"You won't tell anyone else?" asked Jin'eh, as Kenshin tied his belt.

"Of course not. There!" he said with flourish, putting Jin'eh's hat back on his head.

Jin'eh reached into his pocket and pulled out his scarf. "This too," he said, handing it to Kenshin.

"Oh, right, I forgot," said Kenshin. Jin'eh turned around so Kenshin could tie it around his neck. When he finished, Jin'eh turned around again and Kenshin said: "You look fine."

"You're sure?" said Jin'eh, adjusting his hat.

"Yes. Why don't you come into the main building now? Kaoru-dono is fixing breakfast."

"Do I eat with everyone else?"

"Of course." Kenshin laughed to himself-Jin'eh looked like he didn't know if he should be happy about that news or not. "Don't worry," Kenshin told him. "No one is going to yell at you. Just be polite."

"Polite?" Jin'eh looked confused.

"To the others. They can't get mad at you if you don't provide them with any thing to get mad about. Now let's go eat."

He started toward the door. Jin'eh hung back for a moment. Kenshin looked back at him. "Jin'eh?" he asked.

"I have one more thing to ask you before we go," he said. He looked at the floor, his face about three shades redder than normal. "Um, where is the bathroom?"

Kenshin chuckled. "At the back right corner of the property. But hurry back." From the horrible smell of things, he could tell that breakfast was almost ready. He soon realized that he was talking to no one. He looked out the door. Jin'eh was a black and tan blur, heading in the direction Kenshin had pointed out. Kenshin chuckled, shaking his head. A Hitokiri in the heat of battle was a fast creature indeed, but nothing was faster than a Hitokiri when he had to pee.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Jin'eh located the facilities without much difficulty. Finishing his business, he headed back toward the main building. He was relieved when he saw that Battousai had waited for him in the back courtyard. Jin'eh started walking toward him. On the way, he wrinkled up his nose as he smelled something unpleasant. It smelled kind of like something was burning. Reaching Battousai, he looked at him questioningly. Battousai shook his head slightly, but Jin'eh didn't really know what he meant by that. Deciding it must not be that important (since Battousai was not worried about it), he let Battousai lead the way into the main building.

As they walked into the kitchen, the smell grew worse. Jin'eh saw the girl at the stove, stirring a pot of something that looked like lumpy brown sludge. His stomach immediately began to churn. It didn't help that the smell seemed to be coming directly from the pot.

He quickly looked away, taking in the rest of the kitchen. It was a bright, airy room with several windows, a long counter, and a few cupboards that probably held either food or dishes. The low table had been set with only four sets of dishes. He wasn't sure if the girl had done that because she didn't want him eating with them, or if she had just done it out of habit. Battousai quickly went and got another bowl and set of chopsticks and set them on the table. Sitting down at the table, he motioned for Jin'eh to sit down next to him. Then, looking at the girl, he said: "Mmm-mmm, Kaoru-dono, that sure smells good."

Jin'eh looked at Battousai as if he'd lost his mind. Battousai shook his head at Jin'eh and put a finger to his lips. He then motioned for him to sit down again. Jin'eh obeyed, fighting the urge to hold his nose. Without turning around, Kaoru said: "This is a new recipe I'm trying. My father used to make it for breakfast. All his students loved it. I thought I'd try my hand at it," she said, shaking a salt shaker vigorously over the pot. "I figured we could all use a treat." She added two spoonfuls of sugar. Jin'eh gulped. Salt and sugar in the same dish? What kind of crazy loon was this girl's father?

"It's almost ready," she said, turning toward them with a smile. Her smile immediately disappeared when she saw Jin'eh sitting next to Kenshin. "What's _he_ doing here?" she snapped.

"He's waiting for his breakfast, just like I am," said Battousai.

"Tell him to wait outside. He's not eating with us."

"Kaoru-dono, he's not a pet. He's your student. Treat him as such."

Kaoru stiffened, as if she were sensitive about her status as a swordmaster. "All right," she said. She looked at Jin'eh, addressing him for the first time. "But you'd better behave yourself!"

"Yes, Sensei," he said quickly.

Mollified by his response, she turned back and started stirring the pot again. A moment later, the young boy bounded into the room, his eyes still looking sleepy and his hair still a mess. "Good morning, Kenshin," he said. "What reeks?"

"Yahiko! What did you say?" Kaoru's voice was a snarl.

"I said, 'what reeks?' Are you deaf?"

She turned around to yell at him. Her eyes narrowed as she took in his appearance. "Yahiko!" she yelled. "How many times have I told you to comb your hair before you come to the table?"

"About five-hundred. But I still don't feel like it." He picked up one of his chopsticks and clinked it against his bowl. "Hurry it up with the food. I'm starving."

"You're also noisy," said a grumpy sounding voice. Jin'eh looked up and saw Rooster-Head in the doorway. "Didn't it occur to you that other people might still be asleep?"

"Who cares. You're a lazy bum anyway." He began to clink out a rhythm on his bowl, trying to see how many people he could annoy by doing that.

Rooster-Head yawned. "'Morning, Kenshin, Jo-chan, Yahiko, Thing," he said, addressing each of them in turn. "You all look cheery this morning."

Jin'eh thought that that was an odd-sounding thing for the rooster-headed man to say, until he realized the man must be being sarcastic. Kaoru didn't say anything, and Yahiko stuck his tongue out at him. Only Battousai said: "Good morning, Sano. How did you sleep?"

"Like a log. And I probably still would be, if you people hadn't been _yelling_ in here." He sat down.

Once all of them were sitting down, the girl brought the food over and dished it up. It didn't look any more appetizing now that it was in his bowl, and he wondered what exactly was in it. _Don't knock it till you try it, _he tried to convince himself. It had been so long since he had eaten "home-cooked" food that he'd forgotten what a fancy dish might look like. Maybe this was one of those dishes that looked gross, but tasted heavenly. He fumbled with his chopsticks, trying to use them with his left hand. It took a while, but he finally got a piece of the stuff to stay on them, and he began to lift it toward his mouth. It fell back into the bowl with a loud Plop! Yahiko snickered. Jin'eh looked up and saw that all of them (except Battousai) were staring at him with amusement. He tried to ignore them, even though he could feel his face reddening. He tried once more to get a piece of food to stay on his chopsticks. Grabbing hold of a piece, he squeezed them together so it wouldn't fall of. They slipped, slid past each other, and fell into the bowl with a Clink! Rooster-Head laughed. Jin'eh wanted to tell all of them to eat their own damn food and leave him alone. But that wouldn't have been _polite. _So instead, he imagined how Rooster-head might react if Jin'eh shoved his two chopsticks into Rooster-Head's eyes. Now _that _would be funny.

Grabbing hold of a big piece of food, he squeezed his chopsticks together once more. This time it looked like the food was going to stay put. He lifted it, his hand trembling. The food shook precariously, but did not fall. He quickly shoved it into his mouth. Victory.

His triumph was short-lived. His nose wrinkled up and his eyes watered as he tasted this…_concoction. _He'd eaten food prepared at flea-bag, no-star bed and breakfasts. He'd eaten food at some of the worst restaurants in town. He'd even eaten out of garbage cans once or twice. But nothing, _nothing,_ had tasted as horrible, as rancid, as _disgusting,_ as the crud that was in his mouth right now. Already his mouth was rejecting it. He spat it back into the bowl with a loud "PTOOY!" His first instinct was that he'd been the victim of some sort of practical joke. He thought maybe Rooster-Head or Yahiko had slipped something unpleasant into his bowl while he wasn't looking. He spat several times into the bowl, trying to get rid of the taste. Then he looked up at the two of them angrily. "BLECH!" he screamed at them. "WHAT THE HELL _IS _THIS?"

Their expressions quickly told him they were not playing a prank on him. They both gaped at him with expressions that said _now you've done it. _His heart sank, and he looked over at Kaoru fearfully. Her face had turned a peculiar shade of scarlet. She stood up, nearly shaking, and screamed: "WHY YOU UNGRATEFULL BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY FATHER'S RECIPIE!" The next instant, her bowl of food came flying at his head. He ducked instinctively, and the bowl sailed over his head and crashed against the wall, splattering the brown goop everywhere. This made Kaoru even angrier. "NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" His head had been turned because he was looking at the mess on the wall, and so when he looked back at her after she'd yelled at him the second time, he didn't see the ladle from the pot that she'd thrown at him in time to dodge it. The ladle smacked into his forehead with a clang. Jin'eh fell to the ground more neatly and efficiently than when Battousai had defeated him last night. He wasn't knocked out, but he did gray out for a few seconds. He could hear Yahiko and Rooster-Head laughing, and then Kaoru's voice yelling at them to shut up. _You weren't polite, Jin'eh, _he scolded himself deliriously. _You forgot to be polite, and now look at what's happened. _He felt Battousai's arms supporting him, helping him to sit up. He blinked his eyes several times as the scene came into focus once more. Battousai was still helping him to stay upright. Yahiko and Rooster-Head were looking at him and trying their hardest not to burst out laughing. Kaoru was still standing up, glaring at him as if she were thinking about throwing something else at him.

"It's all right, Kaoru-dono," he dimly heard Battousai say. "He didn't mean it." Suddenly, Battousai hissed in his ear: "_Apologize to her!"_

"I'm sorry, Sensei," he mumbled, feeling woozy. He wasn't sure if it was from the bump on the head, or from that awful _food. _"Your food was very…good." But even as he said it, he remembered the horrible taste, the slimy texture, the repulsive smell. He gagged mightily, nearly throwing up. This proved to be too much for Yahiko and Rooster-Head, who burst into explosive laughter once more.

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!" Kaoru screamed, practically in tears. When Yahiko and Rooster-Head did not stop laughing, she screamed again and tipped the table over, spilling everyone else's food. She then turned and ran out.

Battousai quickly got up and went after her. Unfortunately, he forgot that Jin'eh was still using him for support. As he ran out, Jin'eh fell over backwards again, much to the amusement Yahiko and Rooster-Head. When they finally stopped laughing, Rooster-Head managed to gasp: "The food was disgusting, but I give the floor show _four_ stars!"

_You'll be seeing a lot more stars, Rooster-Head, if you don't shut up! _Jin'eh flailed his arm against the floor, trying to get up again. He had nearly managed it when a piece of food came flying at him and hit him in the face. It was sticky and slimy, and it stuck right to his forehead. With a cry of disgust, he reached up to wipe it off his face, forgetting that he was using that hand to prop himself up with. He fell over again with another cry. Yahiko and Rooster-Head burst into another round of hysterical laughter.

"Good one, Sanosuke!" laughed Yahiko.

"What's going on?"

The three of them looked up and saw Battousai standing in the doorway. He looked a little angered by the sight of Jin'eh lying there with a piece of food stuck to his face.

"Uh, nothing Kenshin," said Rooster-Head. "Freakshow was just offering to clean up the mess in here." He waved a hand at Jin'eh, who was still trying to get up. "Isn't that nice of him?"

"You're _all _going to clean up this mess!" said Kaoru, coming into the room after Battousai. She had calmed down a bit, but her face was still bright red. "Every last speck! And you can all cook your _own _meals from now on!"

"Why should _we _have to clean it up?" said Yahiko. _"You're _the one who made the mess!"

"One more word out of you, and you'll be cleaning it _all _up _yourself!" _

"MAKE ME!" Yahiko crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Yahiko." Battousai's voice held a warning.

Yahiko stopped. He looked at the mess and sighed. "All right, Kenshin. But I'm not doing it _all _on my own."

"Of course not." Battousai held out several washcloths. "We'll all help," he said, handing them to Yahiko, Rooster-Head, and Jin'eh. He kept the last one for himself, and knelt down and began wiping up a spill from an overturned bowl.

Kaoru set down a bucket of sudsy water for them to use and walked out. She still looked upset. Jin'eh suddenly realized he felt a little funny about what had happened. He hadn't _tried _to cause all this commotion. He just couldn't eat that food. He knew that Kaoru would probably hate him even more now because of this. But he _really_ hadn't done it on purpose. Maybe he should tell her that. No, she wouldn't believe him. He didn't know why he wanted her to believe him anyway. It wasn't like he cared the least bit about her feelings. He didn't like her any more than she liked him. But he also didn't want everyone to think that he had been trying to make trouble. Not because he didn't want them to think ill of him, but simply because he _hadn't _been trying to make trouble. He felt like someone wrongly accused. He suddenly wondered if _Battousai _was mad at him. Jin'eh sneaked a glance at him, but he was looking at the floor, concentrating on the mess he was cleaning up. Jin'eh realized that all the others were working, and he was still sitting there like a bump on a log. He began cleaning up all the spills in the immediate area around him, careful not to reach out too far, for fear of falling on his face.

As the four of them worked, the silence in the room grew until it became unbearable. He began to wish for someone to say something. _Anything._ Even one of Rooster-head's insults. Anything to get a conversation going. It wasn't that he hated silence, on the contrary, he liked it quite a bit. But as long as Battousai didn't say anything, Jin'eh could not tell if Battousai was mad at him or not. He didn't want Battousai to be mad at him. Battousai's opinion of him had suddenly become very important. He really wanted to tell Battousai that he hadn't meant to make Kaoru angry. But he couldn't do it with Yahiko and Rooster-head here. He would just have to wait to tell him until later. He unhappily wiped at another spill, wishing this goop were not quite so sticky.

"Yuck!" said Yahiko, wringing his rag out over the bucket. "This stuff is so nasty! I'm glad we didn't have to eat it!"

"Yeah," said Rooster-Head. "Jo-chan must lie awake at night thinking of disgusting meals to make for us."

"But this one tops all of them!" Yahiko said with a laugh. "It looks like a big pile of barf!"

Jin'eh couldn't help but chuckle softly at that remark. Suddenly, the conversation screeched to a halt as the two of them stopped what they were doing and turned and looked at him as if he'd just let loose with a streak of curses. He swallowed, knowing he'd upset the natural order yet again. They both glared at him with expressions that said _shut up! _Jin'eh obeyed, staring intently at the spill he was wiping up, ignore their stares. Assured that he wasn't going to _dare_ interrupt them again, they returned to their bad-mouthing of Kaoru's cooking. Battousai still did not say anything.

The mess was cleaned up at last, and Yahiko bounded out the door, saying he was going to take a bath and get the stench of that nasty food off him. Rooster-Head said he was going home, and before he left, warned Battousai not to turn his back on "that cretin" for a second, or he'd get his head lopped off. Jin'eh remained in the kitchen, waiting for the two of them to leave so he could talk to Battousai. He wondered if those two were right about the food. Was _all _the food here _really _that disgusting? He didn't know how he was going to live here if that was true. He'd starve to death. He sighed, thinking about how hungry he was going to be later. He then gave another sigh (this one of relief) as he heard Rooster-Head leave at last.

He quickly went outside, looking for Battousai. He spotted him walking across the back courtyard.

"Battousai!" he called to him.

Battousai turned to look. Jin'eh quickly ran up to him. Battousai looked at him questioningly. "Is something wrong?" Battousai asked.

Jin'eh hesitated, not quite knowing how to articulate what he wanted to ask. He cleared his throat, shifted his feet, then cleared his throat again.

"What is it?" asked Battousai, sounding a trifle impatient.

Not wanting to make Battousai angrier, Jin'eh decided he'd might as well try the direct approach and get this over with. "Are…are you…mad…at me?" He stared at his feet, afraid of what Battousai's eyes might tell him.

"No," said Battousai. "Why should I be?"

That answer did not make Jin'eh feel better. Although Battousai may have said he wasn't angry with Jin'eh, the flat tone of his voice clearly meant that he wasn't happy with him either. And his question at the end clearly meant he was waiting for Jin'eh to admit his fault. Jin'eh swallowed and shifted his feet once more, before trying to appease Battousai.

"I…I…didn't mean it, Battousai," said Jin'eh, finally.

"Kenshin."

Jin'eh tried again. "I didn't mean it, Kenshin."

"Didn't mean what?"

"To make such a big fuss. I really wasn't trying to make her mad."

To his relief, Battousai's face relaxed into a slight smile. "I know," he said. "You just weren't expecting such a…slimy breakfast."

"Right," said Jin'eh. "It was awful. I tried to eat it, but it tasted like…" Yahiko's description was the most accurate he could think of. "…barf," he finished.

"I know," Battousai said again. "I should have warned you that Kaoru-dono isn't the best cook in the world. This whole mess is really _my_ fault."

"No, it's not," said Jin'eh quickly. "It's mine."

"Well, I suppose it's all of our faults. I should have warned you, you shouldn't have complained, and Yahiko and Sano shouldn't have laughed."

"Yeah, well, she didn't have to throw that ladle at me either." Jin'eh was quite surprised by how that just slipped out.

"That's the tough part about making Kaoru-dono mad," said Battousai. "You run the risk of acquiring a few bruises, that you do."

Jin'eh hesitated. "Do you think she's very angry with me?" he asked at last.

"Probably. I know you didn't mean to, but you did hurt her feelings. She worked very hard to make that meal, and she was proud of it."

Jin'eh sighed. "I know," he said. "But…I…well, what should I do?" He stared at the ground unhappily, afraid he already knew what Battousai was going to say.

"Why don't you apologize to her? Tell her you didn't mean it. I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

Jin'eh rolled his eyes. "I'm sure she wouldn't!" he said, trying (and failing) to keep the sarcasm from his voice. "She'd never believe me, and you know she'd never accept my apology!"

Battousai was unsympathetic. "Probably not," he said. "But you still have to do it. You hurt her feelings, and so you have to apologize. It's up to her to decide whether or not she wants to accept it."

"But…" Jin'eh stopped when he realized that further protest would be fruitless. He _really _didn't want to do this, but it looked like Battousai expected him to. He sighed again. "Where is she?" he asked in a small voice.

"Over there." Battousai pointed to where Kaoru was filling another bucket with water. Jin'eh looked over at her as if Battousai had just asked him to go over and stick his hand in a beehive. He looked back at Battousai, almost fearfully. "Go on," said Battousai.

Jin'eh went. As he approached her, he felt his hands begin to shake. He couldn't _believe_ how nervous he was. He just didn't understand it. Before last night, he hadn't been afraid of anything, not even death. But suddenly, he'd become some pathetic, sniveling creature who was afraid of a little girl. What had Battousai _done _to him? Upon hearing him approach, Kaoru raised her head. Jin'eh quickly forgot what question he was asking himself as he saw the hateful expression on her face.

"What do _you _want?" she snapped.

"Um…uh…um…well…" Jin'eh panicked. He stopped altogether and simply stood there in terror.

"WHAT?" shouted Kaoru. "I haven't got time to listen to you stutter! Now either get out of my sight or tell me what you want and _then _get out of my sight!"

"I… I…w-w-wanted t-to a-a-a-ap…..apologize." It was all he could manage.

"Apologize." Kaoru stood up. She stood there for the longest time staring at him in disbelief. Then, slowly, her eyes began to narrow. Her teeth and fists began to clench. Her nostrils began to flare. And Jin'eh was suddenly very glad he was wearing a long kimono, because that meant she couldn't see his knees shaking.

"Apologize," she said again. She walked slowly and calmly over to him. "You want to apologize?" she asked softly when she was right in front of him.

"Yes," said Jin'eh. "I'm s-sorry I hurt your f-feelings."

He knew that it was coming. Like all good fighters, he could sense a blow long before it was in full swing. But he couldn't get out of the way of this one. His broken arm had impaired his agility. She slapped him in the face as hard as she could, knocking him backwards. He didn't fall down, but it was close. He cried out in pain, not from the slap itself (although it did hurt), but because it had jarred his broken nose. He clutched at his nose, hoping it hadn't gotten knocked out of place again.

Another slap caught him across the jaw. Cursing himself for letting his guard down, he went flying into the dirt. He landed with a crash, and lay there, shaking. Shaking not with terror, but with rage. Shaking with rage and fighting the powerful urge to kill. To stain this dirt with her blood. To grab her by the hair and throw her down and make her scream. His hand balled into a fist and he clenched his teeth together, savoring the taste of his blood as he bit his lip. He was aware that she was standing over him, but he did not look up at her or even move. He was afraid that if he saw her, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from trying to kill her. He simply lay in the dirt and fought this urge while she added a kick in the ribs to her barrage of blows.

Breathing deeply, he thought of Battousai. Of Battousai and nothing else. Battousai's calm face. Battousai's kind touch. Battousai's rational words. Battousai… Battousai… Battousai didn't want him to kill her. Battousai didn't want him to kill her! Therefore he _couldn't!_

The urge melted away, along with his anger. It was replaced by a horrible sickness, and an awful feeling of helplessness. Tears of shame sprang into his eyes, but he blinked them back, not wanting to give her that satisfaction. Instead, he lay there trying to catch his breath while she screamed at him.

"I HATE you!" she screamed. "Do you think I want to hear your apologies? I DON'T! You're a mean and disgusting and despicable creature and I HATE you! Your apologies aren't worth _spit _to me!"

_Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. _He begged her with his mind, because he couldn't with his words. _Please, I can't take this anymore. Please stop trying to make me angry. I don't know how much longer I can hold out._

Apparently growing bored with his lack of a response to her shouting, she finished off with a final kick to Jin'eh's side before turning and going back to filling up her bucket. When Jin'eh was sure that all traces of anger and shame were gone from his face, he slowly rose and began to walk away, radiating wounded pride. But at least he still had his sanity.

"Wait a minute!" she shouted angrily after him. "I need you for something!"

Jin'eh took another deep breath and tried with all his might to keep calm. "What did you need me for?"

"I need you to wash the floor in the kitchen." She handed him the bucket.

"Wash the floor?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, wash the floor! You're going to earn your keep around here! And that means you do chores like everybody else!"

"That wasn't what I meant," he said quickly. "I just meant that we already cleaned up the mess in there."

"So what? Cleaning up spilled food is not the same thing as washing the whole floor. And it needs it. It's needed it for about a week. And since you've already started cleaning in there, you might as well finish it up."

"What do I do?"

"It's not that hard! Here, give me the bucket and I'll show you."

He handed it to her. She took it and then he saw her expression change to one he was certain he didn't like. He stiffened as he realized what was coming, but knew he'd never get out of the way in time.

She stepped back. He saw her arms move and her mouth curve into a smile. And for a split second, he saw the transparent blob of water hovering almost majestically in the air over him before it landed on his head, soaking him to the skin.

She burst out laughing. Jin'eh simply stood there in misery, dripping water everywhere. He was completely soaked, and these were his only clothes! He was going to have to walk around wet _all _day now, because of this. He clenched his teeth together, fighting the urge to call Kaoru the filthiest name he knew. She was doubled over with laughter. He tried to ignore her, and began to wring the water from his clothes and scarf one-handedly while he waited for her to stop. She finished at last, and looked up at him, waiting for a response. Jin'eh merely stood there, still not wanting her to have the satisfaction of knowing she'd made him angry again. He was beginning to feel quite weary from controlling his emotions like this.

When it became clear he was not going to say anything, she turned away from him in disgust and filled another bucket with water. This time he kept his distance from her, afraid of another soaking. She finished filling it and held it out to him. He did not move.

"Come on, just take it!" she snapped. "I'm not going to throw it at you!"

"Do you promise?"

"Yeah, sure. Now come on!"

He took it from her. She turned and grabbed a washcloth. "Here, you'll need this too," she said, throwing it at him. He couldn't catch it, because his good arm was holding the bucket, so he had to let it hit him in the face. He then set down the bucket carefully and picked up the washcloth and placed it in the water. As he picked up the bucket again, he snapped: "Is there anything else you'd like to hit me with before I go?"

Her eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in anger. "Yes!" she shouted, brandishing a fist. "This!" She waved it in front of his face. "And I will, if you _ever_ talk back to me again! You _will _treat me with respect! Am I making myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes, _sensei,"_ he said acidly. With that, he turned and went into the main building, ignoring her shouting that the floor had better be spotless when he was done.

Entering the kitchen, he looked at the floor, trying to see if it was _really_ as dirty as she'd said it was, or if she was just making up busy work for him to do so he wouldn't be in the way. It didn't look very dirty to _him,_ but he knew that he was no expert on good housekeeping. And besides, she said he had to clean it, so it didn't matter if _he _felt it was dirty or not. He sat down soggily and began methodically dipping the rag in the water, wringing it out, and wiping it across the floor. It was slow and tedious work, and it hurt his back after a while, because he had to do it sitting up and leaning over, rather than on his hands and knees (because he had no other arm to support himself with). As he worked, his annoyance grew. "That stupid witch," he murmured. "Why does she always have to be such a battle ax? I _said _I was sorry." He slammed the rag against the floor, wishing he could do the same to Kaoru's head. "And why did she have to pour water all over me? Wasn't smacking me in the face enough? And _Battousai….." _He clenched his teeth together with rage as he remembered. "It was _his _idea for me to apologize. And then he just stood there and let her beat up on me! He lets her beat up on anybody, even him! What's the matter with him? Stupid Battousai! They're all stupid! I hate it here!"

As soon as he said it, he realized what an ass he was being. He shouldn't be so quick to find fault with his new home. These people had been kind enough to take him into this place, and he shouldn't be complaining about them. Kaoru had a right to be mad at him after the things he had done last night. And Battousai, well, he was probably trying to let the two of them smooth things over on their own. Jin'eh realized that Battousai was in a very difficult position, with the two of them not getting along, and so he decided that he should cut Battousai a little slack. In fact, he decided he was going to try even harder to not make trouble from now on. Then maybe Battousai wouldn't have to be put in such an uncomfortable position all the time. _I'm going to be good. Really good. She'll never have reason to yell at me again. Then they'll see. They'll all see I'm not… _

Not what? A jerk? A monster? A despicable piece of garbage? He realized that _he_ thought he was _all_ of those things. And it was going to be very difficult to convince them otherwise, if he himself was not convinced. But it was all he could do for now. He just hoped that it wouldn't turn out to be a disaster. _Kind of like this floor, _he realized, as he looked back at his handiwork and saw that all he'd managed to do was smear the dirt around. It was a complete mess. An ugly, dirty mess. _Just like my life, _he sighed. _Time to start over…_

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kenshin waited until Kaoru-dono and Jin'eh seemed to be finished with whatever little exchange they were having before he decided to act. When he saw Jin'eh go into the building with a bucket, he figured Kaoru-dono must have sent him off to do some chore, and so it was probably safe to approach now. As he walked up to her, he saw that she was standing there with her back to him, not moving at all. Her shoulders drooped, and her head was bowed. In fact, she looked as if she were upset again. Kenshin wondered if Jin'eh had said something nasty to her. Kenshin wouldn't have been surprised if he had, after that water-throwing incident. He reached Kaoru at last and placed a hand upon her shoulder. "Kaoru-dono," he said softly. "Are you all right?"

"Kenshin…" she sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"Kaoru-dono, was Jin'eh rude to you? If he was, I can go and have a talk with him."

"No," she said softly. "I…I…I just can believe that I said such terrible things."

"What terrible things?"

"Terrible things," she said again, apparently not wanting to elaborate. "I said really terrible things to him."

"Did he say terrible things to you too?" he asked softly, trying to sound nonjudgmental.

"No," she said in a small voice. "He was trying to give me some lame apology, and I just lost my temper. I said some really awful things to him. It's not that I care if I hurt his feelings….it's just…I've never said such things to anyone before. It's just…not me. I'm not a person who says things like that!" She turned to him and clutched at his shoulder, almost desperately. "Please, you don't think that I'm the kind of person who says things like that, do you?"

"Of course not, Kaoru-dono," he said quickly, although he still had no idea what kind of things she'd said to Jin'eh.

"I don't know what came over me," she said, looking ashamed. "I…just…lost it. It was like I became someone else. I mean, I know I have a temper, but this went beyond anything I've ever said before. I… I hate what this is doing to me." She buried her face in her hands.

"Kaoru-dono," he said gently. "It's all right. Everyone loses their temper. I know you didn't mean it. I don't know what exactly you said, but I do know you're sorry for it. If you want to ease your conscience, then why don't you go apologize to him? I'm sure it will make both of you feel better, that it will."

"No!" she said sharply. "I told you, I don't care if I hurt his feelings! I just feel bad that I was capable of saying such awful things to someone."

Kenshin sighed. "All right, Kaoru-dono. If that's all that you're worried about, then all you have to do is make sure you don't say things like that anymore."

"It's not that easy, Kenshin. He makes me mad!"

"He doesn't mean to, Kaoru-dono. I know you don't believe it, but he really is trying. And you should too. If you try harder to keep your temper around him, then you'll find it easier to not say things like that to him."

She kicked at a small rock on the ground, avoiding his eyes. "I'll try, Kenshin," she said at last. "I don't know if I can pull it off, but I'll try."

"Good," said Kenshin, smiling at her. "That's all anyone can do."

She nodded quickly, then turned to go into the main building. But then she stopped and turned back toward him. "Kenshin?" she asked.

"What, Kaoru-dono?"

She smiled almost mischievously. "It's your turn to sweep the front courtyard."

"Orooooooooooo," he moaned in dismay, and then fell over.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Jin'eh was just getting the hang of washing the floor properly when he sensed someone enter the doorway behind him. Sure it was either Kaoru or Yahiko, he didn't turn around. Instead, he concentrated on the task at hand, hoping whoever it was would go away. Whoever It Was seemed to stop in their tracks as soon as they entered the room. He clenched his teeth, sure he was going to have to endure another tongue-lashing about something. Then he heard an unfamiliar, old-sounding voice say: "Good heavens, who are you?"

He turned his head and was surprised to see a fat, old man wearing a doctor's uniform standing in the doorway. The man was staring at him in confusion. "Who are you and what are you doing in Kaoru's house?" he said.

Jin'eh sat there for a moment, not quite knowing what to say. And not quite knowing who the hell this old geezer was, either. "Um…" he finally said, then stopped. He still didn't know what to say.

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" asked the old man.

"Um…I'm…uh…well…" Jin'eh stopped once more. How on Earth was he supposed to explain the situation to this man? It was a little complicated, and a lot embarrassing, and he didn't really want to get into it if he could help it. Besides, he still didn't know who this guy was. Maybe he was someone who wasn't worth explaining it to. "Who are you?" Jin'eh asked instead.

"You answer my question with a question?" asked the old man, puzzled, and a little annoyed. "That's no way to introduce yourself to someone. Where are your manners? I asked you first. Who are you and why are you in Kaoru's house?" He was sounding less and less friendly with each word.

Jin'eh sighed quietly. It looked like this conversation was never going to get off the ground unless _he _volunteered some information. "Udou Jin'eh," he said, turning around so that he was facing the old man. "I'm a student here."

"_You're _one of Kaoru's students?" asked the man with disbelief. "When did _this _happen? You weren't here two days ago!"

"Um…I'm new." The old man still hadn't volunteered any information about himself, so Jin'eh decided to try again. "Are you the doctor for this dojo?"

"Yes," said the old man. "I'm Dr. Gensai."

_Dr. Gensai. _That name sounded vaguely familiar to him, although he had no idea why. He looked up at the old man, trying to see if he looked familiar, but he did not. He saw that Dr. Gensai was staring back at him, looking almost as if he were scrutinizing him. Jin'eh merely sat there, not knowing what to say next. The old man didn't say anything either. Finally, the silence became so awkward that Jin'eh had to break it. "Well, hello," he said.

"You look like another vagabond," said Dr. Gensai, as if Jin'eh had not spoken. "They've been showing up one after another on Kaoru's doorstep, ever since she took Kenshin in."

"I'm not a vagabond!" said Jin'eh. He was starting to get annoyed.

"Well, you look like one. You're not dressed like a student at a dojo. Your clothes look like something you got out of the rag bag."

Jin'eh slammed the washcloth onto the floor. He was really starting to get annoyed. Dr. Gensai didn't even _know _him, and already he was being insulting. "I got a bucket of water dumped over my head!" he snapped. "And if you're so damn concerned about manners…"

"Ken-Brother!" a child's voice yelled. A moment later, a very young girl bounded into the room. She stopped once she was completely inside, looked around, and then turned to Dr. Gensai. "Where is Ken-Brother?" she whined.

Jin'eh winced. Children were so annoying.

Another, younger girl ran into the room. She laughed as she ran, calling out "Ken-Brother!" Jin'eh caught his breath sharply. She was almost exactly the same age as…

The girl stopped running as soon as she saw him. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers as she stared at him. He cringed, knowing what was coming.

She screamed in terror and began to cry.

"What's wrong?" said Dr. Gensai, kneeling down to her level.

She ran to him and buried herself in his arms, clinging to him. "Scary man," she whimpered, glancing back at Jin'eh. "_Bad _man!"

"There, there," soothed Dr. Gensai. "He's not going to hurt you."

Jin'eh just sat there, not knowing what to do. He was beginning to wish he could just melt into the floor. He didn't know how to handle these sorts of situations. People…they were hard to deal with. He'd never possessed the skills to handle them properly. Not that he'd ever needed such skills before. Before last night, if anyone ever had a problem with him, that person quickly found himself with a sword sticking out of his chest. He sighed. That way was better. This way was too hard.

"Who do you think you are, scaring my granddaughter like that?" said Dr. Gensai reproachfully.

"I didn't do anything!" snapped Jin'eh. "I was just sitting here!"

The little girl had finally calmed down, but she still wouldn't look at him. "Where is Ken-Brother?" she whimpered. "I want Ken-Brother!"

"I'm sure he's around," said Dr. Gensai. "We'll go find him in a moment."

_Yeah, get lost, old man. And take your little brats with you. _He shook his head and reached for the washcloth he had put down earlier. He still had to finish this floor, and he was sure he was going to get in trouble with Kaoru for "making" the little girl cry, so he figured he'd better step to it. If he did a nice job, maybe Kaoru would only hurt him a little bit when she came back.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kenshin was getting the broom out of the tool shed when he heard Kaoru-dono's voice talking to someone. At first he thought she must be talking to Yahiko, but then he heard the other person talk. The voice was definitely not Yahiko's. In fact, it sounded like a man's voice. An old man. _Oh No!_

He dropped the broom and ran around the side of the building. Just as he'd feared, Kaoru-dono was engaged in an animated conversation with Dr. Gensai. "Orooo," he mumbled in dismay. He'd been hoping to intercept Dr. Gensai before Kaoru-dono got to him. He cursed himself for forgetting that the doctor was going to visit that day. He had wanted to explain the situation to Dr. Gensai himself, because he knew Kaoru-dono would spare the doctor no details about the events of last night. And this would certainly make Dr. Gensai quite angry at Jin'eh, given that the Hitokiri had almost murdered the girl he looked at like a granddaughter.

Not that Kenshin liked the idea of lying to Dr. Gensai. But he'd hoped perhaps they could tell him a "simplified" version of the story, since Jin'eh's past was so very unpleasant and his current situation was so complicated. It would make things easier for everyone, at least, as long as Kenshin made sure that Jin'eh didn't pose a threat to them. Which he intended to do, of course.

Kenshin skidded to a halt in front of them. "Hello, Dr. Gensai," he said cheerfully, trying to see which way the wind was blowing.

"I see you two have picked up another boarder," said the doctor. "A wanderer like you, I hear. It really is kind of you two to take in so many strays."

"Uh…" said Kenshin. He hadn't expected Kaoru-dono to have had the same idea, but he was grateful, even if he was pretty sure she was doing it to protect her own reputation rather than Jin'eh. He looked his thanks at her, but she was ignoring him, focusing on Dr. Gensai. "Thank you, Dr. Gensai. I'm sure he will be a good student."

The doctor laughed slightly. "Even if the children don't like him much. They think he's scary."

Kaoru-dono seemed eager to change the subject. "Grandfather, Kenshin's shoulder was hurt very badly in a fight last night. Will you look at it?"

"He's hurt?" asked Dr. Gensai in surprise. "Let me see."

Kenshin held still while Dr. Gensai examined his shoulder. "This needs a few stitches," he said. "Come inside, and I'll fix it up for you."

"Thank you," said Kenshin, following him inside. "And could you see to Jin'eh's arm as well? He hurt it last night in the fight too." Of course, there was no reason for Dr. Gensai to know that the two hadn't been on the same side in this fight.

"Of course," said Dr. Gensai. "I'll look at his arm when I'm finished with you."

"Thank you," said Kenshin. Reaching the main living quarters, he sat down and prepared himself for the unpleasantness of stitches.

A short time later, the wound was completely closed, and felt much better, although it didn't look the part. Dr. Gensai told Kenshin that he'd have to leave the stitches in for at least two weeks, and that he had to go easy on that arm for a while. Kenshin obediently agreed to be careful; although he was sure he'd be engaged in some reckless sword battle by the end of the week. "All right," said Dr. Gensai. "Now go get the new student and I'll set his arm."

Kenshin went over to the kitchen and looked inside. The mess was gone and the floor was clean, but Jin'eh was not inside. The only sign of him was his soggy hat, which was sitting in the middle of the table, looking as though he'd set it there to dry and then forgotten about it. Kenshin thought for a moment, trying to figure out where the other Hitokiri might have gone. Perhaps Kaoru-dono had given him another chore to do. He went out into the back courtyard and found that Yahiko had joined Kaoru-dono, Ayame, and Suzume. Kaoru-dono was telling him about the fight, while he listened, enthralled. "Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin called out. All of them turned to look.

"Hey, Kenshin!" said Yahiko. "What a cool move! Attacking with your sheath!"

Kenshin smiled at him before addressing Kaoru-dono, who was looking at him questioningly. "Have you seen Jin'eh?" he asked.

"He's supposed to be washing the floor!" said Kaoru-dono.

"It looks like he's finished. But I don't know where he is now. Dr. Gensai wants to have a look at his arm."

"I haven't seen him, but if I do, I'll tell him," said Kaoru-dono, apparently not worried about it.

"Maybe he's in his house," said Ayame.

"His house?" asked Kenshin.

Ayame pointed at the pantry. "Oh," said Kenshin. "Right. I'll go look."

He walked across the courtyard and went up the steps. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer from inside. Deciding to check anyway, he opened the door and went in.

He found Jin'eh inside, sitting in his bed, staring at his feet, which were still pressed up against the cupboard. Kenshin could tell that he was having a difficult day, and didn't like having to make him go and endure more pain, but his arm needed to be looked at and Dr. Gensai wasn't going to be there all day. Thankfully, even though Jin'eh didn't seem like he liked Dr. Gensai all that much, he still went along without a fuss.

Kenshin followed Jin'eh out into the courtyard. The two girls were still running around, playing tag or some other, similar game. Apparently Ayame had put the incident in the kitchen behind her already, because she continued playing, even running in front of Jin'eh several times, shrieking with laughter. Her sister, however, shrieked in fear as soon as she saw him and ran behind Kaoru-dono. Yahiko pointed at Jin'eh and laughed, then grabbed his wooden sword and pretended to stab himself in the chest with it, making faces and sounds as though he were dying (Kaoru-dono must have gotten past that part in the story). Jin'eh did not respond to any of them, and Kenshin merely waved at them before following Jin'eh into the main building.

"This way," Kenshin said, pointing him toward the main living quarters. Jin'eh entered hesitantly. Dr. Gensai looked up from rummaging around in his medical bag and motioned for Jin'eh to come over. Jin'eh obeyed, sitting down next to him on the mat. Kenshin helped him remove his damp scarf and the top of his even damper kimono so that Dr. Gensai could take a better look at his arm. The doctor gently took hold of Jin'eh's right arm and began moving it, adjusting it, bending it, assessing the damage. Jin'eh's breath hissed out from between clenched teeth as Dr. Gensai straightened his arm out and flexed the fingers, one at a time. Kenshin placed to hand on Jin'eh's left shoulder comfortingly, but Jin'eh did not seem to notice. He had his eyes squeezed shut, and looked as though he were trying desperately not to cry out. Dr. Gensai finished his examination at last and began to place the arm in a sling.

Once the arm was set, Dr. Gensai said: "This is a very bad break. The joint is completely crushed, and the ligaments are torn loose. That must have been a well placed sword-stroke."

Kenshin did not respond, not wanting to disclose more info than he had too and figuring it would be in poor taste to gloat about it with Jin'eh present. "You can put your top back on now," said Dr. Gensai to Jin'eh, after about a half-minute of silence. Kenshin helped him put it on again, glad that the sling was not as awkward as he'd thought it would be. Jin'eh's sleeve was big enough to allow the whole sling to fit inside. When he was finished, he could barely tell that Jin'eh was wearing a sling at all, except for the fact that his arm was held at unnaturally close angle to the front of his body, and only the black tips of his fingers peeped out the end of his sleeve. "This needs to stay in the sling for at least a month," said Dr. Gensai. "He can take it off to bathe, but that's it. I'll examine it again in a month to see if it's ready to come off."

"Will he be able to use the arm again, once it's healed?" asked Kenshin.

"The joint will heal, but it will never be completely functional again. He may be able to learn to bend it slightly, and to train the fingers to bend once again, but that's about it. And since the joint's healing in a sling, the arm will probably always be crooked, even when the sling comes off. And it will always be weaker than his other arm. However, once I take the sling off, I'll give him some exercises to do to strengthen it and help him learn to move his fingers again. That might help to make it strong enough for day to day use."

"Thank you, Dr. Gensai," said Kenshin, laying Jin'eh's wet scarf out on the floor to dry faster. Then he poked Jin'eh in the side.

"Yes, thank you," said Jin'eh obediently.

"Well, I'd better be going now," said Dr. Gensai. "It's almost lunchtime."

"You can stay for lunch if you want," said Kenshin.

"Thank you," said Dr. Gensai. "But I'd better get the girls home. They…uh…don't really like eating over here."

Kenshin laughed. "I don't blame them. You should have seen what we had for breakfast this morning!"

"I can guess," said Dr. Gensai as he got up and started out the back door. Kenshin followed, and so did Jin'eh. "I really wish Kaoru had someone to give her cooking lessons," the doctor said regretfully.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Dr. Gensai and his grandchildren left at last, and Jin'eh hoped he would be allowed to go back to the pantry for the rest of the day, since his arm now hurt terribly and he was quite tired of the others' company. However, Battousai said that lunch was almost ready and that Jin'eh might as well go with him to the back courtyard, where it was being served.

_Oh, gods! Not more of that pig slop! _He didn't want that horrid food, and he didn't want to be around any of the dojo's other residents right now. "I'm not hungry," he said softly to Battousai, hoping the man wouldn't press the issue.

He was wrong. "Of course you are," said Battousai gently. "You haven't eaten since yesterday. Now, come have some lunch. Don't worry, it's only rice balls."

Jin'eh realized that it was useless to try and argue. "Well, I suppose she can't mess those up too badly." He got up and followed Battousai outside.

Once they joined the others in the back courtyard, Jin'eh sat down silently, praying that no one would say anything to him. Battousai sat down next to him and served him several of the lopsided balls. They weren't completely cooked, and they didn't stay together very well, but they were edible. He realized he was starving and quickly wolfed them down.

"Sheesh," said Yahiko as another rice ball came apart when he tried to pick it up, spilling rice into his lap. "Why don't you add glue to the recipe next time, Kaoru?" This comment earned him a rice ball in the face.

They were all hungry, so the lunch disappeared quickly. Battousai finished the last of his rice balls and got up. A shower of rice fell from his lap. "I'm going to go to the market to get tofu now. I'll be back in a little while."

"All right, Kenshin," said Kaoru. "Will you pick up some radishes too?"

"Yes, if there's enough money left over," said Battousai.

"Well, I'm heading out too," said Yahiko, brushing rice from his lap.

"Where are you going?" asked Kaoru, sounding like a stern mother.

"None of your business!" said Yahiko.

"Well, you can't go until you finish your chores!"

"What chores? I did all of mine all ready!"

"I want you to do the dishes!" said Kaoru.

"Aw, come on! I _always _have to do them!"

It looked like this argument was going to go on for a while, so Jin'eh got up, brushed all the rice from his lap, and headed for the pantry.

"Hey!" said Kaoru. He froze. "Where do you think _you're _going?"

He swallowed, trying to think of how _not _to make her angry. "Well," he said, turning toward her. "I _was_ going to go back to the pantry. Unless, of course, you need me for something."

"Oh yes," she said, smirking. "You did such a nice job on the floor that I have lots of other chores that I'd like you to do."

Jin'eh just barely managed to stop himself from making a face. "All right," he said instead. "What are they?" He hoped that, whatever they were, they didn't involve him getting another bucket of water dumped on him.

She smiled. "Do you like to sweep?"

He spent the rest of the afternoon doing a multitude of chores for her. Besides sweeping the all the rooms in the building, he had to dust and then help her clean up the storage room (because it was messy from her throwing everything around when she'd tried to find blankets last night). When the sun had begun its descent in the west, Kaoru finally decided that that was enough cleaning for the day. She went to go fix dinner, and told Jin'eh to go back to the pantry and wait there until dinner was ready.

Jin'eh obeyed, flopping down in his bed with a groan. His back was killing him from all that sweeping. Since he only had one arm, he'd had to hold the broom far down the handle, near the head, in order to have any control. And that meant that he'd had to sweep bent over. He sighed. Being a cripple was even more inconvenient than he'd thought. He was so weak and helpless now. How was he ever going to learn to be a fighter again when he couldn't even sweep a floor properly? And what was with all the chores, anyway? Did everyone here always do chores all day, or was it just some odd way of punishing him? He shook his head, muttering to himself. He'd gone from Hitokiri to scullery maid in just one day. He was so worthless…

The pantry grew dimmer as the sun sank closer to the horizon. The air began to grow colder, and he shivered slightly in his still-damp clothes. He heard Yahiko's voice outside, shouting something. _He must be back from wherever he went, _thought Jin'eh. He got up and went over to the window, trying to see if Battousai was back as well, but he did not see him. He'd been gone all afternoon. He'd must have had more than tofu on his agenda when he'd gone out today. Battousai…

He went and lay back down in his bed, wondering again why he was doing all this. He knew now that this was never going to work, and he silently cursed Battousai for not letting him die last night. Tears once again threatened to flow from his eyes, but he blinked them back, determined not to cry anymore. Instead, he buried his face in his blanket and tried to nap in order to pass the time. If he was asleep, then he wouldn't have to think about how his back hurt and his arm hurt and he couldn't fight and everyone hated him and he was a worthless useless idiotic fool.

He wasn't sure how long he laid there and if he even slept or not, but eventually he heard a familiar voice outside, and soon it was accompanied by footsteps, growing nearer with every second. Battousai was back, and was crossing the courtyard, heading for Jin'eh's building. Not really in the mood for kind words or pep talks, Jin'eh quickly lowered his head back to the blankets, pretending to be asleep. A few moments later, there was a gentle knock on the door. Jin'eh did not respond, still pretending to sleep.

The door opened anyway and he heard Battousai enter the room. "Jin'eh?" he said. Jin'eh still did not respond. He heard Battousai's footsteps walking over to him, and then he felt him sit down next to him. "Jin'eh?" Battousai softly asked again. Jin'eh still did not answer him. He was ASLEEP!

There was silence for a moment. Then he suddenly felt Battousai gently touch him on the shoulder. He though for a moment that Battousai was going to try to shake him awake, but Battousai did nothing of the kind. Battousai's hand lingered there for a moment, then gently caressed him, moving down his back, then up again. Jin'eh just barely managed not to gasp-he hadn't expected…_this._

"Gosh, you're still pretty wet, that you are," whispered Battousai. "I wish I had some spare clothes to lend you. But they wouldn't fit you. You're too tall."

Jin'eh suddenly had a vision of himself dressed in a too small, Battousai-esqe outfit and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

Battousai sat silently next to him for a few minutes, still rubbing his back. Finally, he leaned close and whispered in Jin'eh's ear: "It will be all right. I'm going to take care of everything."

Jin'eh didn't understand what he meant by that, and at the moment, he didn't care. Battousai had already done far more for him than he ever deserved and yet he was so horribly unhappy here and it was unlikely to get better. _I hate it here and I hate myself for hating it here and I don't know what to do. Why couldn't he have just..._

Battousai's hand moved up and gently smoothed his hair. It felt good, just like it had last night, and he stiffened. His heart sank as he realized that he'd just betrayed himself. Battousai now knew that he was not asleep.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jin'eh," Battousai said, softly, apologetically. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's all right," he murmured automatically, relieved that Battousai hadn't figured out he was faking.

"How are you feeling?" asked Battousai kindly.

Jin'eh did not want to talk about it. He made a small noise that sounded like "Mmmp" and turned over so that his back was to Battousai, hoping Battousai would leave him alone.

"Rough day?" asked Battousai gently.

Jin'eh did not reply. He wanted Battousai to leave him alone.

Battousai gently patted him on the back. "It will get easier, that it will," he said.

Jin'eh remained silent. He wanted Battousai to leave him alone.

Battousai was also silent for a while. Then, in an apparent attempt to comfort, he said: "I know it's not easy to start a new life. It's very, very difficult, that it is. But I know you are trying very hard. I saw how hard you tried today. I'm proud of you, that I am."

Suppressing a sigh, Jin'eh finally sat up and faced the other Hitokiri, realizing it was useless to continue ignoring him. "Thanks," he managed to mumble

"Do you want to talk about it" asked Battousai.

Jin'eh shook his head. What was there to talk about? And besides, it wasn't like talking about it was going to magically change the situation.

"You look like something is bothering you," Battousai pressed.

"Nah," murmured Jin'eh. "I just…it's hard. It's so different from the way things were before, and I don't like it, and I worry you will hate me for not liking it. I know how hard it was for you to arrange this for me and I don't want to be ungrateful, but…"

"You aren't being ungrateful," Battousai was quick to reassure. "I know that it's hard, but I also know you are trying, and I truly appreciate that."

"I just don't think I can do it Battousai." Jin'eh stared at his feet, unable to look into Battousai's eyes. "It's so hard and I feel so…_stupid."_

Battousai chuckled, but it was not a mocking chuckle. "I can understand that. A man who was as powerful as you were cannot find it easy taking orders to do menial tasks from people he could once have defeated easily."

"Mmmph." Battousai hadn't HAD to say it out loud. Hearing it said like that made it seem ten times worse than before.

"But it will get easier," Battousai said again. "All you have to do is keep trying as hard as you are today. Each day will get easier, until it is second nature to you." Battousai smiled at him.

Jin'eh still didn't feel cheered. Battousai didn't know just how hard he'd needed to try today, and he had a bad feeling that if Battousai knew, he wouldn't want Jin'eh there anymore.

But he supposed that Battousai had a right to know. Battousai would want to know if his woman was in danger, and so Jin'eh could not keep such information from him, even if it spelled disaster for Jin'eh himself. He would just have to tell Battousai and face the consequences. He owed Battousai that much.

"Battousai?" he finally asked.

"Yes, Jin'eh?" His tone was so nonjudgmental, so safe. And that made Jin'eh feel worse.

"Battousai…I…I wanted to kill her."

To his surprise, Battousai did not seem angry or horrified. "Who, Jin'eh?" he asked, still in that same gentle tone.

"Her…uh, Kaoru," said Jin'eh. "When she hit me earlier, I wanted so much to strike back and kill her. You…you don't know how badly I wanted to. I…I controlled myself, but it was so hard. What if I can't next time?" He shook his head. "I don't want to put your…uh…friend in danger, and you know you don't want that either. I don't want to leave, but…" Wait, hadn't he been thinking before how he DID want to leave? Emotions made no damn sense at all, he decided.

To his surprise, Battousai patted his shoulder. "Kaoru-dono can take care of herself, Jin'eh. She can defeat you easily now. She is not afraid of you hurting her, and neither am I."

"But…but I shouldn't even try," Jin'eh pointed out. "I shouldn't even want to."

"Jin'eh, you can't change your instincts overnight, and I don't expect you to. As for trying to, yes you are right. You shouldn't try to hurt people here, and if you do Kaoru-dono and I will make sure you are punished severely for it. Understand?"

"Yes, Battousai," mumbled Jin'eh, feeling like a little boy getting a scolding.

"You will have to find the strength within yourself to control you temper and your desires to kill," said Battousai. "And if you want to stay here, you will find a way to do it. However, I don't believe that you are too dangerous to stay under our roof while you learn that lesson. So don't worry." Battousai smiled at him.

Jin'eh sighed softly. Things always sounded so plausible when Battousai said them. He could almost believe that Battousai was right. Wanted to believe it in fact. Did he dare? Should he trust Battousai like he had last night?

Jin'eh decided he might as well. After all, Battousai was more trustworthy than Jin'eh himself was. Why not believe him? Battousai would know if something were wrong.

"All right, Battousai," he said finally.

"And if it makes you feel any better," Battousai added, "I know in my heart that you wouldn't have hurt her."

"R-really?" asked Jin'eh, surprised at the man's faith in him.

"Of course," said Battousai. "I know that you are gentle."

"_Gentle?" _Jin'eh looked at him as if he'd gone crazy. "I'm not gentle! I'm a Hitokiri!"

"You aren't a Hitokiri anymore," said Battousai.

"Yes I am," replied Jin'eh. "I will always be a Hitokiri. A Hitokiri is a Hitokiri until death. Nothing he does can change that. You of all people should know that."

Battousai was silent for a long time. Jin'eh wondered if he'd struck a nerve. He'd forgotten how much Battousai had tried to deny his Hitokiriness when they'd first fought.

"It doesn't matter," Battousai suddenly said. "Whether you are a Hitokiri or not, it is in your true nature to be gentle."

"No it's not!" Jin'eh knew Battousai was only trying to be nice, but he couldn't bear hearing Battousai say nice things about him that they both knew were not true. "I am a Hitokiri. It is a Hitokiri's true nature to kill."

"You weren't born a Hitokiri, Jin'eh."

"So?" Jin'eh didn't understand this conversation.

"So, your true nature is the one you were born with. It is not something that's added later. And I can see deeper than your Hitokiri's spirit. I can see your true spirit. And it is pure."

"Pure?" asked Jin'eh, as if he'd never heard the word before. It sounded horribly out of place when attached to _him._

"Yes," said Battousai. "You just need help finding it, that you do."

Jin'eh didn't believe him for one second. But he kind of liked how _Battousai _believed it. "Will you help me find it?" he asked, playing along.

"Of course, Jin'eh. I'll help in whatever way I can."

Jin'eh liked hearing that, even if it was all nonsense. He grinned at Battousai. "So you really believe I can break free of my past?"

"Of course, Jin'eh. Anyone can, if they want it enough. I have faith in you."

"Thank you, Battousai." Jin'eh threw his arm around him and tried to hug him.

Battousai chuckled again. "Do you feel better, then?"

"Yes, thanks to you." He hesitated, remembering something that Battousai had said earlier. "Are you _really _proud of me?"

"Of course," said Battousai. "You are trying hard, that you are. I know Kaoru-dono and the others haven't been treating you very well, but you've really managed to keep your temper. You've managed better than I thought you would."

Jin'eh felt ridiculously pleased. "I'll do even better tomorrow. I promise."

Battousai smiled. "Of course you will. I know it's been hard for you here, but as I said, it will only get easier. All you have to do is be good to the others, ignore their insults the way you've been doing, and…er…hold your nose when you eat Kaoru-dono's cooking, so you don't throw up."

Jin'eh laughed. "All right, Battousai." His eyes widened as he realized what he'd been saying. "I mean Kenshin! Oh no! I've been calling you Battousai again! I'm sorry!"

Battousai smiled. "It's all right. I know you are trying to remember."

Jin'eh smiled again, glad he'd decided to put up with Battousai's pep talks after all. It was amazing how much better simple words from a friend could make him feel.

"Now, cheer up," said Battousai with a grin. "Tomorrow's your first lesson. You will start learning how to be a fighter again."

"Yes, if Kaoru doesn't murder me," said Jin'eh. "I don't think she'll go easy on me. Not that I want her to," he added quickly.

"KENSHIN!" Kaoru's voice floated across the courtyard. "SUPPER'S READY!"

Battousai rolled his eyes. "We'd better get out there. Hopefully it won't be _too _disgusting." He got up.

"B-Kenshin?" asked Jin'eh, correcting himself just in time.

"What?"

"Could you buy time for me? I didn't wash up after all that cleaning I did, and I don't want them to see me like this." He pointed to his dirty face and sweaty hair.

Battousai laughed. "I was wondering where that streak of dirt on your cheek came from." As Jin'eh scrubbed at his cheek with his sleeve, Battousai added: "I'll tell them you just woke up and need a few minutes. In the meantime, you can go and wash your face in the bathhouse."

"Thanks," said Jin'eh.

They both went outside and Battousai pointed him in the right direction. As Jin'eh started off toward the bathhouse, he noticed a horrid, burning smell. He looked back at the main building and saw a trickle of smoke coming out the window. It looked like supper was going to be another meal to remember…

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kenshin went back into the main building, glad he had managed to cheer Jin'eh up. A cloud of smoke greeted him as he opened the door. Holding his nose, he went down the hall. Inside the kitchen, he found Sano and Yahiko sitting at the table, also holding their noses. A platter of blackened fish sat in the middle of the table, and Kaoru-dono was frantically waving a towel over it in an attempt to clear away the smoke.

"Hey!" yelled Yahiko. "Watch it with that thing! You almost knocked my hat off!"

_Hat?_

As the smoke cleared, he noticed that Yahiko had on a familiar, wide-brimmed hat. "Yahiko!" Kenshin said. "Take that off. It's not yours."

"Is that you, Kenshin?" Yahiko was having trouble seeing because the hat was much too big for him.

"Yes. Now take it off," Kenshin said again. "It doesn't belong to you, that it doesn't."

"It does now," said Yahiko smugly. "It was just sitting on the table when I came in. Finders keepers."

"Yeah, I think he should be able to keep it," said Sano. "He looks good in it. Now all he needs is a red scarf and to have a horse step on his face, and he could be Kurogassa."

"Hey! I'd hardly call that 'looking good,'" said Yahiko, addressing a vase of flowers.

"I'm over here," said Sano.

"Hey!" came a deep voice. "That's _my _hat!"

They turned to see Jin'eh standing in the doorway, waving smoke away from his face. "Give me that!" he said, striding over to Yahiko.

"No way," said Yahiko. "It's mine!" He took it off and wrapped his arms around it to keep Jin'eh from taking it.

"Yahiko. Give it back to him," said Kenshin.

Yahiko sighed angrily. "Everyone always ruins my fun. Here!" He handed the hat to Jin'eh.

Once they were all sitting down, Kaoru-dono served them each a fish. Kenshin had hoped that maybe the fish would only be burnt on the outside, but they were burnt all the way through. Each time he took a bite, it crumbled into fine ash in his mouth, and the whole thing tasted like one big piece of charcoal.

For a while, the room was silent except for the sound of unhappy crunching. Finally, Kaoru-dono asked: "Well, what does everybody think?"

"Delicious, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said quickly, wiping at the smear of ashes around his mouth.

"Bleck!" said Yahiko. "I've taken _medicine_ that tastes better."

"Good," said Jin'eh, attempting to brush flecks of ash from his clothes.

"Jeez, Jo-chan," said Sano. "I probably could have found something more appetizing out of the garbage can at home!"

"Well, why don't you go back there, then?" said Kaoru-dono. "And take Yahiko with you!"

"Fine by me!" snapped Yahiko.

"You _know_ I don't have any food," said Sano, sounding annoyed. "I don't have a job anymore."

"So if you're going to mooch off of me, then you should at least keep your mouth shut about my cooking!" said Kaoru-dono angrily.

"Fine," said Sano. "It was without a doubt, the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. If fact, I was wondering if I could have another."

"There aren't any more," Kenshin said.

"What?" said Kaoru-dono, surprised. "There should be. I cooked an extra, in case one didn't turn out."

"You should have cooked _five _extras," put in Yahiko.

"See for yourself." Kenshin waved a hand at the empty platter.

"What happened to the other one? Who took the other one?" Kaoru-dono sounded like she was going to start yelling any moment now.

"It's fine," said Sano. "I'll just eat one of the pieces of used firewood instead. I'm sure it will taste the same."

Kaoru-dono did not look especially cheered by this comment. After checking the floor, under all the plates, and inside the cups, she had to give up. "I just can't figure it out. Where could it have gone?"

"It probably burned up into dust and floated away," said Yahiko.

Kenshin decided to quickly change the subject, before Kaoru-dono flipped the table over again. "So, it took two hours, but I finally got in to see Mr. Yamagata today."

"So _that's _where you went!" said Kaoru-dono, forgetting about her lost fish. "I _thought_ you were gone an awfully long time to just be getting tofu."

"What did he say, Kenshin?" asked Yahiko.

"Well, actually, he was too busy to talk to me about it today. But he let me make an appointment, that he did."

"You waited in line for two hours just to make an appointment?" asked Sano, astounded. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that guy was busy!"

"So, did you tell him what you wanted to talk to him about?" asked Kaoru-dono.

"Yes. But I had to be careful not to say too much. I told him I captured the Kurogassa, and wanted to talk to him before I turned Kurogassa over to the police."

"Turn me over to the police?" asked Jin'eh fearfully.

"Ha ha ha!" said Yahiko.

"Of course not," Kenshin said quickly. "But I'm not going to tell _Mr. Yamagata _that until I've had a chance to explain the whole situation to him."

"Oh," said Jin'eh, adjusting his hat. "Do you think it will work?"

"I think so. I told him he might be interested in Kurogassa's identity. I'm sure he'll remember you, so I think he might be able to pardon you based on all your service to the Meiji government during the revolution. But he won't be able to do that unless he has proof that the Kurogassa is you. That's why you're coming with me tomorrow."

"W-W-WHAT?" Jin'eh looked like he was going faint. "_I _have to come too?"

"Of course," said Kenshin. "I need you there so all of us can decide the proper course of action."

"But what if it's a set-up, Kenshin?" asked Kaoru-dono.

"A set up!" said Yahiko, sounding interested. "You two are sitting in the office and a bunch of police jump up from nowhere and grab him! That kind of a set-up?"

"There isn't going to be a set-up," said Kenshin.

"There better not be," said Kaoru-dono, sounding concerned. "You could get hurt, Kenshin."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Jin'eh, adjusting his hat again.

"Because he thinks I'm bringing you there to turn you in," said Kenshin. "Therefore, he would have no need for a set-up."

"Then why do you think he will agree to pardon him?" asked Sano.

"I told you. He told me the government still owed me when I turned down that government position. This is going to be the favor I ask in return, that it is."

"I still don't think it will work, Kenshin," said Kaoru-dono, worried. "You could get in trouble too for trying to protect an assassin."

"I think it will work. As long as Jin'eh behaves himself, that is." He gave Jin'eh a pointed look.

To his surprise (and slight annoyance), Jin'eh was concentrating on scratching his head underneath his hat, looking as though he were trying not to attract attention to himself. "Are you listening to me?" asked Kenshin.

"Yes," said Jin'eh, adjusting his hat once again, looking frustrated.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Sano condescendingly.

"Nothing," mumbled Jin'eh, still trying to fix his hat.

"What's the matter with your head?" snapped Kaoru-dono.

"I'll bet he has fleas," said Yahiko with a smirk. "Everyone, stay away from him or you'll catch them too."

"I do not have fleas!" snapped Jin'eh. "Something just keeps poking me in the head. Did you break one of the rushes in my hat when you were playing dress-up?"

"Nope," said Yahiko, still smirking.

"Then what's poking me in the head?" asked Jin'eh sarcastically.

"I don't know," said Yahiko innocently. "You'd better look."

Angrily, Jin'eh removed his hat. As he did so, a shriveled-looking black thing fell off his head. "Ahh!" he yelped, looking horrified. "What's that?"

"God only knows," said Sano with a smirk. "Maybe you should wash your hair more often."

Kenshin took a closer look. It was a fish. A very burned fish.

"I think we've located the missing fish," said Kenshin, holding it up.

"YAHIKO!" shrieked Kaoru-dono.

"WHY YOU LITTLE…" snarled Jin'eh, making a wringing motion with his left hand, as though he were killing a chicken.

"Hey, c'mon," said Yahiko defensively. "It was a joke! I'm just surprised it took this long for you to notice I put it in your hat. You must be a half-wit!" he said with a laugh.

"Yahiko!" Kaoru-dono shrieked again. "That was for supper!"

Yahiko yawned. "It wasn't any good anyway."

"You got ashes in my hair!" snarled Jin'eh.

"That's a shame," said Sano nonchalantly, wiping his face on a red napkin.

_A red napkin? We don't have any red napkins!_

"Ahhhhh!" Jin'eh shouted in horror. "That's my scarf!"

Sano blew his nose in his "napkin."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Jin'eh reached across the table and tried to grab it away, but Sano held it out of his reach.

"Sano!" said Kenshin reproachfully. "Stop that!"

Sano rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said innocently to Jin'eh. "Is this yours? I found it on the floor in the other room. You shouldn't leave your stuff lying around like that."

_Oops, _remembered Kenshin. _I left it there!_

Sano threw the soiled scarf at Jin'eh. It hit him in the face, then fell gently to the floor. Kenshin's heart began to pound when he saw the expression of murderous rage on Jin'eh's face. Kenshin's hand moved automatically to the handle of his sword, wanting to be ready to break up any fight that might result from this confrontation.

"Don't try anything," Sano warned Jin'eh. "You'll only embarrass yourself."

Jin'eh leapt to his feet as if he were going to attack Sano right there. Sano merely laughed. Jin'eh made a motion as if he were going to lunge at Sano, but then stopped. He remained motionless for a long time. "What's the matter?" asked Sano. "Are you a coward as well as a loser?"

"Sano!" said Kenshin warningly.

Jin'eh still did not move. Finally, his head turned slowly and his eyes fixed on Kenshin's. Then, he quickly turned and walked silently out of the room.

Kenshin turned to Sano. "Why did you do that?" he asked angrily. "You almost started a fight."

"It was payback for _this,_" said Sano, holding up his bandaged arms.

"I thought you weren't going to go looking for revenge anymore," said Kenshin, still angry.

"I'll make a special exception in his case," said Sano, with a yawn.

"Sano!" snapped Kaoru-dono suddenly. "Stop trying to start fights at _my _dinner table!"

Sano looked at her in surprise. "But I thought you didn't like him either!"

"I don't," said Kaoru-dono shortly. "But I'm stuck with him. So I don't want to keep having these ugly confrontations all the time. I want things to get back to being as normal as possible!"

"Kaoru-dono," began Kenshin.

She ignored him. "Sano, since you and Yahiko were the ones causing problems tonight, you two can do the dishes."

"Aw, man!" said Yahiko in dismay. "I had to do them after lunch!"

"Too bad," said Kaoru-dono. "You should have thought of that before you put the fish I cooked inside Jin'eh's hat."

"Fine," said Sano. "I'll do the dishes. I still think it was worth it." He got up and started clearing the table.

Kenshin picked up Jin'eh's dirty scarf and put it in laundry basket. Then he walked out the front door, where he'd seen Jin'eh go a few minutes earlier. He found him sitting outside on the front steps. "Jin'eh?" he asked hesitantly.

Jin'eh turned toward him. To Kenshin's surprise, he was smiling slightly. "I did it again," he said with a chuckle.

Kenshin was confused. "Did what?"

"Kept my temper," said Jin'eh. He actually seemed to be beaming slightly.

"Yes you did," said Kenshin. "You've kept it many times today, that you have."

"Yes but this time I almost tried to fight him. But then I thought of what you'd said to me earlier, and I didn't do it."

Kenshin smiled, proud of him. "You didn't." He sat down next to him on the steps. "Sorry about all that. Sano's a little mad about…"

Jin'eh cut him off. "Don't worry about it, Battousai. I mean Kenshin. I'd be mad at me too." He was silent for a moment, gazing at the dark shapes of the trees that were across from them. Then he turned his head toward Kenshin, suddenly looking a little sad. "Trying to make you angry last night was fun for me. But now, I'm finally beginning to understand how you must have felt."

"Most children figure lessons like that out in the schoolyard," said Kaoru-dono, coming outside. "You must be a late-bloomer."

To Kenshin's surprise, Jin'eh laughed. Kaoru-dono looked a little confused by this, as if she'd hoped for an angrier response, but she did not say anything. Instead, she came and sat down by Kenshin. "Kenshin?" she asked hesitantly.

"What, Kaoru-dono?" he said.

"Will you promise to be careful tomorrow?"

"Of course, Kaoru-dono. It's really not going to be dangerous in any way, shape, or form. It's just your standard, under-the-table political deal, that it is."

His attempt to be humorous did not pay off. Her worried expression did not lighten. "Those kinds of deals are _always _dangerous."

"Don't worry," said Jin'eh suddenly. "If anything goes wrong, the only person who'll be in danger is me."

Kaoru-dono looked at him angrily. "Shut up! I wasn't talking to you!" She turned toward Kenshin. "I just don't want anything bad to happen to you because of _him."_

"Nothing bad will happen," Kenshin assured her. "Mr. Yamagata isn't _that _kind of politician.

"I thought you said last night that he could wipe out Kyoto and no one would ever know!"

"He _could," _said Kenshin. "He's powerful enough to do that. But he wouldn't. He's an honorable man, that he is."

"Then why on Earth would he ever help Jin'eh?"

Kenshin was getting a little tired of people trying to poke holes in his plan. "Because he _said _the government owed me a favor, that he did."

"Maybe he won't want to do _this_ favor. Maybe it's too big a favor," said Kaoru-dono.

"Kaoru-dono, _this _is the kind of "favor" he meant. He didn't mean he'd go pick me up at the train station someday, or weed my garden for me." Kenshin was trying to keep his annoyance from showing, but he wasn't doing a very good job.

Of course this made Kaoru-dono angry. "Well, _excuse me _for worrying about you!" she snapped. She quickly got up and stomped inside.

Kenshin decided not to follow her, at least for the time being. It was always safer to let her calm down for a while. Otherwise, he risked getting things thrown at his head. He sighed softly, staring across the front courtyard. It was tricky business trying to deal with everyone's problems.

"Why do you let her yell at you all the time?" asked Jin'eh curiously.

"She is a good, kind person," was all Kenshin said in reply, hoping Jin'eh would drop it.

To his relief, Jin'eh got the message. Changing the subject, he asked: "Do you really think that you could be in danger tomorrow?"

"No," said Kenshin honestly. "Kaoru-dono's just worried about me, that she is."

"Because I'd hate for you to get hurt trying to help me, too." said Jin'eh.

"I won't get hurt. And neither will you. So don't worry about it."

"All right," said Jin'eh softly. "Thanks for all your help so far."

"You're welcome," said Kenshin. "Thank you for trying your best to be polite today."

"It wasn't easy," said Jin'eh. "But if I can stay, then it's worth it. But I _am_ sorry my scarf got ruined."

"It's not ruined. I'll wash it when I do the laundry tomorrow, that I will. When I'm done, it will be as good as new."

"More laundry?" asked Jin'eh, raising an eyebrow. "How did the great Hitokiri Battousai get reduced to doing laundry all the time?"

"The Hitokiri Jin'eh is going to have to learn as well, that he is," said Kenshin, teasing back.

"How is he supposed to do laundry with only one hand?"

"I've heard that he is resourceful," replied Kenshin.

The streetlight outside the gate was lit, signaling that night had officially fallen. They were both bathed in a warm glow. Fireflies started flickering in the bushes by the fence. Inside the dojo, Kenshin could hear Kaoru-dono muttering to herself, and Sano and Yahiko arguing about something. He leaned back on the step, strangely content. He loved evenings like this. No one to fight, nothing to do. These were evenings that were just meant for relaxing. Relaxing and being with the ones he held dear. He sighed softly. If only things could stay as they were…

A loud crash from inside suddenly jolted him out of his dreamy state. Yahiko immediately began yelling at Sano, and a few moments later, Kaoru-dono started shrieking.

Jin'eh looked at him. "You'd better go break them up or you'll have a brawl on you hands."

Kenshin quickly got up and went inside. He found the others standing in the middle of the kitchen, screaming around a pile of broken dishes that was lying on the floor."

"…dropped it!" Sano was shouting.

"I did not! You dropped them when you were handing them to me!" Yahiko shouted back.

"I thought you had them!"

"Well, why did you give me so many at once, you stupid idiot? You _knew _I couldn't dry that many dishes at one time!"

"I don't care _whose_ fault it is!" screamed Kaoru-dono. "You're _both _in trouble! You _ruined _all my dishes!" She picked up a cup from the counter and threw it at Sano. He ducked, but then another came flying at him and hit him between the eyes. Yahiko laughed, but then shouted and jumped aside as several plates came flying at him.

"Kaoru-dono, you're only breaking more of them! ORO!" Kenshin had to leap backwards to avoid a cup that came flying at him.

"EVERYONE, CLEAN UP THIS MESS!" screamed Kaoru-dono. She stalked out.

"Oroooooooo," Kenshin moaned. "Why couldn't you two have been more careful?"

"It's not my fault! It's his!" said Yahiko and Sano in unison, pointing at each other.

Kenshin ignored them and began picking up shards of broken ceramic. "Don't just stand there," he mumbled to Yahiko and Sano. "Get a garbage can."

"I could sweep it up," offered Jin'eh, who'd evidently come inside after him. "I've had a lot of practice with a broom today."

"Yeah, you do it," said Sano, handing him one. "You have to be good for something."

Kenshin finished picking up the big pieces, and then Jin'eh swept up the little ones. Sano and Yahiko continued arguing. Kaoru-dono sulked in the main living area.

The mess was cleaned up at last. "It took long enough," said Sano. "That was a pretty big mess."

"Well, it's cleaned up now, that it is," said Kenshin, holding out a garbage can (which he'd retrieved himself) for Jin'eh to empty out his dustpan into.

"Good," said Sano. "I'm going home now. I think I've had all the excitement I can handle for one evening." He started for the door.

"Goodnight, Sano," Kenshin called after him. "See you tomorrow."

Sano did not respond. Kenshin turned toward Kaoru-dono's two students, who were standing there looking nervous. "Well, at least _he_ gets to escape, that he does," he said. "But _we'd_ better go apologize."

They followed him reluctantly into the main living area. Kaoru-dono did not want to hear their apology and told them to go away. Kenshin sighed and decided to let Kaoru-dono cool down once again. He went down the hall and into a little study. He thought he might as well read to pass the time. He found reading relaxing sometimes.

A noise in the doorway caught his attention. He turned and saw Jin'eh standing there. "Kenshin?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes?" said Kenshin, blowing the dust off of the cover of the book he'd picked out.

"Do you mind if I sit in here with you? I don't really have anything to do."

"That's fine," said Kenshin. "Here, I'll find you something to read." He scanned the bookshelf, which was full of fat, dusty volumes that had belonged to Kaoru-dono's father. Choosing an appropriate title, he handed the book to Jin'eh.

Jin'eh looked at it. "_The Book of Poetry_?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Try it," said Kenshin. "It'll help relax you, that it will."

Jin'eh sat down and flipped through the pages. Stopping on one, he read: "Delicate flowers do bring pain to my withered soul…" he looked at Kenshin. "You've _got _to be kidding me!"

"Well, maybe you'll get some laughs out of it," said Kenshin, opening his book.

They read for about an hour before Kenshin felt himself beginning to nod off. At first he couldn't understand why (he'd found the history book he'd chosen to be fascinating), until he remembered that he'd gotten almost no sleep at all for two nights in a row. He looked at the clock and was surprised to see that it was only eight. He began to wonder if he'd look stupid going to bed at this hour.

He heard a rustling in the doorway. Turning to look, he saw Kaoru-dono standing there, looking as tired as he felt. "Kenshin?" she asked.

"What, Kaoru-dono?"

"Would you think I was a bore if I went to bed at eight o'clock?"

He laughed. "No, Kaoru-dono. I was just thinking about going to bed myself, that I was."

She smiled. "I guess we're all a little tired from our ordeal last night." She pointed at Jin'eh, who was fast asleep with the poetry book in his lap.

"Actually, I think he just didn't like the selection I picked out for him," said Kenshin, chuckling. He got up and put both books back on the shelf. Then he gently shook Jin'eh awake.

"Ba!" said Jin'eh, awakening with a start.

"It's all right, Jin'eh," he said softly. "It's only me."

"Mmmpf," he mumbled, brushing the hair out of his eyes.

"Do you want to go to bed?" asked Kenshin. "The rest of us are thinking about going, that we are."

"Okay," he mumbled, getting to his feet. He followed Kenshin and Kaoru-dono out of the study and into the main living area. Once they were there, Kenshin said goodnight to Kaoru-dono before she went into the main sleeping area (where Yahiko was already sawing logs). Kenshin led the way out to the pantry, wanting to help Jin'eh get ready for bed, as he had last night.

He went into the pantry and lit the lamp. Jin'eh went over to his bed and sat down. He began to try to get his shoes off by himself. Kenshin went over and helped him because he wanted to get this over with so he could go to bed. When Jin'eh had been stripped down to his bodysuit, he lay down and Kenshin gently covered him up. "Goodnight, Jin'eh," whispered Kenshin, preparing to leave.

"Kenshin?" asked Jin'eh hesitantly.

"What?"

Jin'eh swallowed hard. "Will you stay with me?" he mumbled, almost incoherently.

Kenshin barely suppressed a sigh. He was tired. Too tired for this.

"Please?" Jin'eh pleaded. "Just until I fall asleep? I don't think it will take very long."

Kenshin felt a rush of compassion. "Of course," he said gently, patting Jin'eh on the back.

"Thank you, Battousai," murmured Jin'eh, closing his eyes.

Just as Jin'eh had said, it did not take very long before he fell asleep, snuggling contentedly next to Kenshin. But despite Kenshin's exhaustion, he found that he did not want to leave him. He remained sitting with him for a while longer ("just to make sure he's asleep," he lied to himself). As he sat with the sleeping Hitokiri, he went over the events of the day. He'd been slightly surprised by how hard Jin'eh had tried today. He'd have thought there would have been far more incidents than there turned out to be. Jin'eh must have really wanted to stay here with him.

He reached out and smoothed Jin'eh's purplish hair, taking pleasure in its softness. "I promise I'll take care of you," he whispered to him. "It doesn't matter to me what's happened to you or what you've done. I'm just glad you're here with me right now. I know today was rough on you, but I also saw how well you handled things. Just by watching you today, I now know for sure that this is your home." He sighed softly. "You may have to deal with rude housemates, tons of chores, and horrid food at every meal, but you are home. And this is where you belong." He grabbed a spare ragged blanket and lay down a few feet away. "You belong here with me," he said, making himself as comfortable as possible. "Goodnight, my friend," he whispered, closing his eyes.

He remained with his friend for the rest of the night, keeping his nightmares away.

~Fin


	3. A Lesson Well-Learned

A Lesson Well-Learned

**Woah, remember **_**this **_**story?**

**No?**

**Me neither :P**

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kenshin awoke with a start, the nightmare still fresh in his mind, his dead wife's name still on his lips. Sweating profusely, as if he'd actually been fighting instead of just dreaming about it, he sat up and looked around. His surroundings were unfamiliar to him, and for a moment, this combined with the dream made him think he was still living back in his Hitokiri days, when he'd slept in any place that was safe and available. He suddenly became aware of the sound of breathing. Someone was in the room with him! He reached for the sword that was always next to him and turned around quickly. He saw no attacker, just a man who was asleep a few feet away. He instantly recognized the sleeper, and was immediately brought back to the present day.

"Jin'eh…" Kenshin whispered softly, worried that he had awakened the man with his nightmare. But either Jin'eh was the heaviest sleeper in the world, or Kenshin had not actually cried out in his sleep, because Jin'eh continued sleeping as if he'd heard nothing. Kenshin decided that the former was impossible, because no Hitokiri would live long if he were a heavy sleeper, so Kenshin decided he must not have cried out. Glad that he hadn't betrayed himself in his sleep, he lay back down, trying to get his heavy breathing and pounding heart under control.

He finally managed to calm down after about five minutes. Sitting up once more, he yawned and looked around. He saw light streaming in through the crack under the door. It was probably time to get up and…

"Delicate flowers do bring pain to my withered soul…" he suddenly heard Jin'eh murmur.

Kenshin turned toward him with a surprised look. "_What?" _he asked, confused.

"Delicate flowers do bring pain to my withered soul!" Jin'eh repeated, without opening his eyes. He then mumbled something incomprehensible and turned over in his sleep.

Kenshin slapped a hand over his mouth and bit his lip, trying desperately not to laugh. He failed miserably, and soon was snickering like a naughty schoolboy. _I guess that poetry book _did _rub off on him after all, _he remembered with a chuckle.

Feeling better, he got up and folded up his pitiful little blanket, ignoring the stiff back he had from sleeping without a mat. He set it next to Jin'eh, then reached out and covered the sleeping Hitokiri up with his own blanket, which he'd kicked off when he'd turned over in his sleep. As soon as he finished, Jin'eh groaned and turned over again, kicking the blanket off once more.

Kenshin couldn't decide whether to sigh or laugh. He picked up the ragged blanket and covered him up once again. Then he got up and went out into the early morning sunshine.

He must have slept later than usual, because he could hear both Kaoru and Yahiko already up. He went into the kitchen, wondering what horrible thing they were having for breakfast today.

To his surprise, there was no sign of breakfast. Only Kaoru and Yahiko sitting at the small table, talking.

"Good morning Kaoru-dono, Yahiko," he said cheerfully.

"'Morning Kenshin!" said Yahiko. "Today's my first day as Number One!"

"Number One?" asked Kenshin.

"I'm afraid he's already let his status as the senior student go to his head," said Kaoru with a sigh. "But remember," she said, addressing Yahiko once more. "You may be the senior student, but if you don't keep training hard, you may not end up being the strongest student."

"Yeah right. He's never going to be better than me! He's a cripple!"

"See, now that's the kind of attitude I'm talking about," said Kaoru in a lecturing tone.

"If you want to see someone with a bad attitude, why don't you look in a mirror?" retorted Yahiko. "Oh, wait, I forgot. Because it would break."

"Yahiko!" she said threateningly, searching for something to throw.

"So, Kaoru-dono, you're going to start giving Jin'eh lessons today?" asked Kenshin, trying to distract her.

Her angry expression deepened. _Oops! _He'd forgotten that talking about Jin'eh didn't exactly put her in a cheery mood. "Yes," she said through clenched teeth. "And he'd better take it seriously! I want him to be a _model student, _or else I'm not going to waste time on him! Where is he anyway? Still asleep?"

"Uh, yes, Kaoru-dono," said Kenshin. "I thought I'd let him sleep a little while longer, that I did. I didn't realize how late it was," he added quickly.

"Yes, why did you sleep so late today?" asked Kaoru. Her eyes suddenly narrowed, as she noticed which door he'd come through. "And what were you doing outside?"

"Um…" he gulped as he realized that she wouldn't be happy with him if she found out that he'd spent the night in the pantry with Jin'eh. "I was…I had to…use the bathroom, that I did!"

"Oh," she said, her expression instantly lightening. "Well, remember to wash your hands before br…oh no! Breakfast! I totally forgot!"

"See!" said Yahiko. "You were so caught up in lecturing me that you forgot your duties as dojo master. One of which is to feed your students before they fall over!"

She took a deep breath to shout at him. "Kaoru-dono," Kenshin quickly cut in. She let the breath out in a huge "PUFF!" as she turned to look at him. "Why don't I make breakfast today, since you're running late?" he suggested cheerfully.

She considered for a moment. "Well, it _is_ my job. But…I suppose it would be nice of you. Thanks, Kenshin."

"You're welcome," he said, going over to the cupboard to get out the pots and pans he was going to use.

"So is that lazy lout going to get up or not?" she suddenly asked, sounding annoyed once again.

"Who, Jin'eh?" asked Kenshin.

"Yes, him! I'm not letting him sleep the morning away! He's not here to sleep! He's here to train! So he'd better get up soon, or he'll have to train on an empty stomach!"

"I'll go wake him up," Kenshin said quickly, starting for the door.

Kaoru moved swiftly into the doorway so that she was standing in his way. "No!" she said. "You have to make breakfast! _I'll _go wake him up. He is _my _student, after all. I'll wake him up, and make it perfectly clear to him that he is not allowed to oversleep at Assistant Master Kaoru's dojo!" She stalked out.

"Kaoru-dono…" he tried to say. She continued walking out into the back courtyard as if he hadn't spoken. He gave up and went back to his cooking, hoping she wouldn't rough Jin'eh up _too _much.

"Assistant Master! Ha!" said Yahiko with a laugh.

"That _is _her proper title," said Kenshin, pouring ingredients into his pan. "And she deserves to be called by it. She's a good teacher, that she is."

"Ha!" said Yahiko again.

"She _is," _Kenshin insisted. "You're learning a lot from her, that you are."

"Well, I suppose I _am_ learning something," said Yahiko. "But I think it's just because I'm a natural."

"That's true," replied Kenshin. "But a student can only go so far on his own, before he needs a skilled sensei to help him improve."

"You may be right, Kenshin," said Yahiko thoughtfully. "Do you know of one?"

"Yes," said Kenshin, not amused by his sarcasm. "Kaoru-dono. And I think you should show your appreciation for her more often, that you should. It's not easy running a dojo by yourself. Or teaching students who don't pay for their lessons. And remember, she's been under a lot of stress these past few days, that she has. So why don't you try being a little nicer to her today? After all, she's going to have her hands full dealing with Jin'eh, so I'm sure she'd appreciate it if _you_ were less of a handful.

"Fine," said Yahiko resignedly. "What should I do to help her out?"

"Why don't you set the table?" suggested Kenshin, stirring the dish he was preparing.

"Hey!" said Yahiko. "That's helping _you!"_

"But _I'm _helping her. So if you help me, we'll _both _be helping her, that we will."

"Yeah right," said Yahiko, getting up and going to the cupboard where the dishes were kept. "If you wanted me to do your work for you, why didn't you just say so?"

"Oroooooooooo!" mumbled Kenshin, giving up.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kaoru strode across the courtyard, feeling annoyed. Why was that creep still asleep? She wasn't running an inn! She was running a dojo! And she thought that any student of hers would at least have enough sense to get up and come to the breakfast table on time! Angrily, she strode up the three stairs and opened the door.

Sure enough, the lazy bum was still sleeping away. He was lying there curled up in his miserable little corner with his filthy little blanket, looking like he hadn't a care in the world. That irked her even more. Here she was making herself miserable helping this horrid creature, while he lay there in perfect contentment. The unfairness of it all pissed her off even further and filled her with a desire to wipe that contented expression off his face. Tiptoeing closer to him, she raised a foot.

"GET UP!" she shouted, slamming her foot down just inches from his face.

He flew into a sitting position and attempted to throw himself at her in what must have been an instinctive urge to fend off an attacker. A combination of his broken arm and his surprise when he saw who it was made him lose his balance and fall forward, smacking his face against the floor. "Ouch!" he said, looking dumbfounded. "What was that for?"

"It's time to get up. You've overslept. And that's not allowed. I don't expect to have to wake you up the same way tomorrow! Understand?"

"Y-yes," he said, still in a sleepy daze.

"Good. Now get up. It's almost time for breakfast." She began walking toward the open door.

"Uh…Assistant-Master?"

She turned toward him. "What?"

He looked incredibly embarrassed. "Um…can you go get Battous-I mean Kenshin for me?"

She looked at him as if he were crazy. "What do you need _him_ for? A good morning kiss?"

"No! I just need his help with something," he said, staring intently at the floor.

"With what?"

"Something." He still wouldn't look at her, and his face was getting red.

"I'm not getting him unless you tell me what it's for!" she said, starting to get annoyed.

He was silent for a long moment. Finally he muttered: "I can't put my clothes on by myself."

"What was that?" she asked, an amused grin teasing at her lips.

"I can't put my clothes on by myself!" He hid his now scarlet face in his hand.

"Why not?" she asked with a laugh. "Don't you know how to dress yourself yet?" she asked him in a voice that she would normally use for talking to a baby. "Is it too hard?"

"_You_ try getting dressed with only one hand and see how easy it is for _you_." he snapped, still not looking at her.

"I told you not to talk back to me!" she said, raising her sword warningly. "Do you want your head knocked? Because I'll do it if you keep that up."

"Are you ever in a _good _mood?" Jin'eh shot back, his dark eyes glinting with a good deal of suppressed anger.

"Is that a 'yes?'" she asked pointing the sword at him.

He seemed to struggle visibly with his anger for a moment before apparently deciding that continuing to argue wasn't worth the embarrassment of having her discipline him. He took a deep breath, paused, and then let it out through clenched teeth. "I'm sorry," he muttered, sounding as though the words physically pained him to say.

She gave an angry sigh of her own, not really wanting to let him off the hook, but knowing how bad it would make her look if she prolonged the argument herself just so she could smack him one. "All right," she said. "I'll let you off with a warning this time. But next time, you get a smack with my sword. And the time after that, two smacks. And so on. So behave yourself. Understand?"

"Yes," he said softly, no longer looking at her. This time she could see quiet humiliation mingling with the anger in his eyes

"All right," she said, turning her back to him so she wouldn't have to look at him any longer. Seeing him humbled didn't really give her any satisfaction…it only filled her with contempt for him and made not smacking him that much harder. "I'll go get Kenshin and see if he'll help get you out of your… 'predicament.'"

"Thank you," she heard him say almost sulkily

Kaoru ignored him. She quickly left the pantry and went back into the main building. A delicious smell greeted her as she entered the kitchen.

"Hello again, Kaoru-dono," said Kenshin, stirring the pot of food he was cooking. "Where's Jin'eh?"

"He can't come out to play," said Kaoru with contempt. "It seems the little _baby _can't dress himself on his own. He needs you to help him."

"Oro, I forgot," said Kenshin over Yahiko's hysterical laughter. "Kaoru-dono, would you finish stirring this for me. It should be done in five minutes."

"All right," she said taking the spoon.

"Aw, don't let her tamper with it!" moaned Yahiko. "She'll ruin it!"

"No she won't," said Kenshin, while Kaoru threatened Yahiko with the spoon. "Besides, all she needs to do is stir it for five minutes." He headed quickly out the door, leaving her behind to fend off Yahiko's insults.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / /

Jin'eh waited patiently for Battousai, quietly scolding himself for losing his temper with Kaoru. He hadn't tried to, but she had made him angry, making fun of him because he couldn't dress himself anymore. Someone should break her arm! Then she'd see how hard it was to live as a cripple! A grin crept onto his face as he imagined how she'd react if he lopped off one of her arms with a sword. How red her blood would be against his blade, how pained and terrified her screams would be. How harsh and satisfying the lesson would be as he taught it to her, how great her despair would be as she realized she'd learned it too late. A Hitokiri was not to be bullied by lesser creatures, and someone really ought to make her understand that…

He quickly shook himself, trying to snap himself out of it. It was so hard to let go of his bloodlust. In fact, if he _weren't_ crippled, he might not have been able to do it at all. He sighed softly. He still might not be able to do it. If only he'd had something else to live for…

Battousai suddenly came through the door with a cheerful "Good morning, Jin'eh!" Jin'eh immediately felt better. The other man's presence was like a calm soothing breeze, cooling much of his anger and self-loathing.

"Good morning, Battousai," he said, trying to hide his smile.

"You look cheerful, that you do," said Battousai with a smile of his own. "Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Yes," said Jin'eh. "If you'll uh….help me again, that is."

"Of course," said Battousai, going over to the counter, where he'd laid Jin'eh's clothes out to dry last night. As Battousai helped him, Jin'eh noted with relief that his clothes were completely dry today. Thanks to Battousai. Battousai always knew how to make everything all right again.

When Battousai was finished, they headed out into the courtyard. As they walked across it, he saw smoke tricking out the doorway once again. "Sheesh," he said to Battousai. "Doesn't she know how to take food off the fire when it's done?"

"Oh no! My breakfast!" shouted Battousai, breaking into a run.

Jin'eh ran after him, and they arrived in the kitchen to see Kaoru standing proudly in front of the smoking pan, which she'd set on the table. "Don't worry, Kenshin," she said happily. "It started to burn, so I took it off the fire right away so that _it_ didn't catch on fire!"

"Well, there's the answer to your question," Battousai muttered to Jin'eh. Then he turned to Kaoru. "Good thinking, Kaoru-dono!"

Yahiko, who had been sitting at the table with his face buried in his hands, raised his head and said: "She was only alone with it for five minutes and still managed to ruin it!"

"It's not ruined!" said Kaoru. "Only the bottom got burnt!"

"I'm sure it's fine," said Battousai with a smile. "Shall we eat?"

"Blech!" said Yahiko. He folded his arms and sat there angrily until he saw Jin'eh sit down across from him. Suddenly, his expression changed to amusement. "Hey, look everyone! It's the big baby!"

"Big baby?" asked Jin'eh, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, big baby!" laughed Yahiko. "Hey Big Baby! Can't you put your little baby clothes on all by yourself?"

Jin'eh's heart sank. She'd _told _him. That _bitch! _He turned and glared at Kaoru, but she was concentrating on dishing up the food, and didn't see him. He turned back toward Yahiko. "What's the matter?" Yahiko asked in a baby talk voice. "Is the big baby mad? Is he going to start crying and having a temper tantrum, like he did before?"

"Stop that," he forced himself to say flatly. _"You're _the one who's acting like a baby right now, you little shit."

"Watch your language!" Kaoru snapped at him. Thankfully, her sword stayed where it was. For now.

"At least _I_ can dress myself," Yahiko told him smugly. "I don't need Big Daddy Kenshin to help me. Ha! Do you need him to feed you too? Do you need him to change your _diaper?_"

Jin'eh clenched his teeth together, barely managing to swallow his rage. He remained silent, trying his absolute hardest both to calm down, and to think non-violent thoughts.

"What's the matter? Is Big Baby angry? Maybe he needs a time-out."

"Stop," said Jin'eh, in the quietest voice he could manage. "Stop it right now, you little…"

"Stop fighting, you two," interrupted Kaoru, sitting down. "Behave yourselves, or I'll make you both leave the table without any breakfast."

"Fine by me!" said Yahiko. "You ruined it, so I'm sure it tastes like dog poop!"

Jin'eh realized that it would be useless (not to mention immature) to protest, so he picked up his chopsticks and tried once more to tackle the task of eating with his left hand. Unfortunately, he fared no better than yesterday, and kept dropping food on himself. And each time he did, Yahiko would either say "gah gah, goo goo!" or ask him if Big Baby wanted a bib.

Jin'eh did his best to ignore the little brat, and Kaoru and Battousai both asked him to stop several times, but he kept doing it. When Yahiko asked Jin'eh if he'd rather have milk instead of "big people food," that was the last straw. Jin'eh flung both his chopsticks at Yahiko's head, and then walked quickly away, heading for the front door, just as he had during the argument at supper yesterday. As he stalked out, he smacked into Rooster Head, who was coming in.

"Hey! Watch it, Frogface!" said Rooster Head, as Jin'eh pushed past him.

Jin'eh ignored him and sat down on the steps once again. Inside, he heard Rooster Head complain loudly: "Hey! How come you guys didn't wait for me?"

"You should have shown up on time," said Kaoru crossly.

"You can have Jin'eh's food," said Yahiko. "It looks like he's done."

"I don't want his filthy food! That's like eating something a dog's been at!"

"Take it or leave it," he heard Yahiko say.

Jin'eh's ears burned with rage. They'd just given his food away! Why was _he _the one who ended up with no breakfast? _Yahiko _had been the one acting up! All Jin'eh had done was sit down at the table! He hadn't done anything to the little brat!

He moaned softly and covered his face with his hand. He'd been hoping his second day here would be easier, but he hadn't even been up for one hour and already he wanted to slaughter most of his new housemates. How was he ever going to pull this off?

"They're only insults from a ten year old boy," came a familiar voice. "Why don't you take it like a man?"

He turned around and saw Kaoru in the doorway, giving him a look that would have curdled milk. "That wasn't why…" he started to protest, but then stopped. He decided that he really didn't want her to know the _real _reason why he was upset. She might not be too enthusiastic with the idea that he wished he could murder her. "I'm sorry," he said instead, hoping that was good enough.

"All right," she said. "Now come and finish your breakfast."

"I thought you gave it to…" He stopped as he realized he couldn't remember Rooster Head's real name. "…that other guy," he finished, sounding like an idiot.

"Sanosuke? No, I made him scrape the burnt stuff off the bottom of the pot," she said with a laugh. "That'll teach him to show up late!"

"You really _are _a stickler for punctuality," said Jin'eh, already feeling a little better. He got up and started following her inside.

As they entered, he saw that his food was still where he'd left it, and Rooster Head (Sanosuke, he remembered his name was), was indeed scraping food from the bottom of the pot. He just managed not to laugh as Sanosuke gave him an ugly look, then went back to scraping the pan. There was no sign of Yahiko, thank heavens. He sat down and quickly finished the food (which he had to admit was delicious, despite being slightly burnt), trying his best not to spill on himself.

When he was done, Kaoru said: "Now that you're finally finished, you can do the dishes."

"All right," he said softly, doing his best to be agreeable. "What do I do?"

She showed him how to pump a bucket of water and heat it, where the soap was kept, and where the dishes could be put once they were dry. When she was certain that he understood, she said: "All right. Finish the dishes, and meet me out front in an twenty minutes."

"What happens in twenty minutes?" asked Jin'eh, afraid it was more chores.

"Your first lesson. And don't be late!" she said, heading out the back door.

Jin'eh quickly went to work on the dishes, trying to ignore the huge pit that had suddenly opened up in his stomach. His first lesson. While he'd known he was going to be receiving lessons while living here, and knew he needed them if he was ever going to be a fighter again, he hadn't really stopped to consider the reality of the situation. In twenty minutes, he was going to be standing out in the training yard, being taught the wimpy fighting style of a dojo with no students. And that he was going to be terrible at. And had to learn one-handed. From a women. Who was half his age. And didn't even have a full title. And who hated his guts.

He was going to feel like the biggest idiot in the entire country. Even worse, he was going to _look _like the biggest idiot in the entire country.

"Hey Filthface!" yelled Sanosuke, startling him out of his self-pity. "Here's one more for you!"

Jin'eh turned around just in time to see Sanosuke with the pan raised, ready to throw. He dove out of the way as the pan came flying at him. It hit the wall with a clang, then fell to the floor with a clatter.

"_Careful_ with that!_" _Jin'eh snapped at him. "You could put a hole in the wall!"

"I'd rather put one in your head!" snapped Sanosuke.

_Oh, and I'd LOVE to do the same to you. Make a nice big, gaping hole while you scream and beg me…_

His eyes widened as he caught himself again. _There I go again, _he scolded himself. _And not ten minutes after the last one. How am I ever going to break free?_

Sanosuke looked at him strangely. "What's the matter with you?" he asked.

"N-nothing," Jin'eh stammered, suddenly feeling even more depressed than he had on the steps outside. "Just leave me alone."

"What happened to your sense of fun?" asked Sanosuke sarcastically. "Since when did you turn into a wimp?"

"Since my arm got broken," grumped Jin'eh. "I can't fight anymore, so I guess that makes me a 'wimp.'"

"And boring," said Sanosuke. "I almost preferred your psychotic grinning and laughing and drooling. Almost."

"I'm not here for your damn entertainment!" Jin'eh snarled, as he tried to turn his attention back to the dishes.

"What the hell _are _you here for?" asked Sanosuke suddenly. "Is this some sneaky plan to become a murderer again? Because if it is, Kenshin will see right through it, and whip your ass!"

"It's not. So go away," said Jin'eh quietly, putting another plate into the bucket.

"Oh, boo hoo! What, you don't like my company?"

Jin'eh tried to ignore him. Finishing the last of the plates, he got up and retrieved the pan Sanosuke had thrown at him. The he went to work on the cups. Then, finally, he started drying everything, which was even harder to do one-handedly than the washing had been. Through it all, Sanosuke remained in the kitchen, glaring sat him. He eventually felt so uncomfortable that it was almost a relief when Kaoru came back into the kitchen and yelled at him for being late for his lesson.

She led him out into the empty training yard and left him there while she went to get something. He stood there uncomfortably, waiting for her to return, until he heard the door slide open behind him and Yahiko bounded out, wearing a training outfit. "Here comes the top student!" he shouted, leaping from the top of the steps and landing in the courtyard with flourish. He drew his wooden training sword. "Your first lesson is to fight me!" he said.

Jin'eh blinked at him, unimpressed.

"Well?" said Yahiko, waving his sword at Jin'eh.

"I don't have a sword," he said flatly.

"You do now," said Kaoru, coming around the side of the building with a long wooden training sword in her hand.

She handed it to him. He took it hesitantly and held it in his hand, weighing it. It had been so long since he'd used a training sword that it felt uncomfortably light and flimsy to him. Still it was a start. This sword would help him make it to the day when he would be a powerful fighter once again, so it would have to do.

"Is it the right size, then?" asked Kaoru.

"Yes," said Jin'eh, fighting the urge to take a few practice swings with it. He wasn't sure he could do them properly with his left hand, and he didn't want to embarrass himself.

"All right," said Kaoru. "Now, take that stupid hat off and let's get started."

"My hat?" asked Jin'eh, as if she'd asked him to remove his head.

"Yes, your hat," she said. "It interferes with your lateral vision."

"Oh," said Jin'eh, realizing she was right. It did interfere with his vision. It hadn't really mattered when he'd been a good fighter, but now that he was not…well…he supposed it might cause problems. "Of course," he said, taking it off and hanging it on the corner of the railing. "There." He walked back over to her. "I'm ready."

"Good," she said. "Now show me your stance."

He went into his usual fighting stance, but quickly realized it felt all wrong and asymmetrical. He shifted his feet immediately, realizing that if his left arm was now his sword arm, that meant that he was going to have to change his footing as well. He changed his stance so that he was leading with the opposite foot.

Kaoru smiled. "Good," she said. "Now raise your arm a bit, and don't hold the sword so stiffly. You're not a scarecrow."

Jin'eh realized again that she was right. He was unused to holding a sword with his left hand, and so he was holding it too tightly and unnaturally. Kaoru reached out and bent his arm into the proper position and adjusted his grip. He felt so stupid letting a woman who was younger than him give him pointers on swordsmanship, but he forced himself to swallow it. He needed to learn, and besides, he knew that Kaoru _was_ strong. After all, she _had _broken his strongest dose of Shin no Ippou.

Kaoru adjusted his fingering again. When she seemed satisfied, she stepped back and looked at his stance once more. "Much better," she muttered to herself. Jin'eh just concentrated on not stiffening up. This still felt unnatural to him. But he knew he had to train himself so that it felt natural.

"You have to train yourself so that that stance feels natural," said Kaoru. "I know you're not used to it, so that's going to be your biggest obstacle to overcome right now. But you can do it with enough practice. That means you put in extra time, outside of lessons."

Jin'eh hated her lecturing tone. He knew what to do! Did she think he'd never had lessons before? But he knew she'd only scold him if he said anything. So he forced himself to nod and say: "All right, Assistant-Master."

"Good," she said. "Now show me your basic swing."

He swung straight down. Too late he realized that, in trying to keep his grip relaxed, he'd let his hold on the sword become too loose. The sword went flying out of his hand.

Yahiko laughed, and so did Sanosuke, who had taken up a seat on the steps to watch the fun. Jin'eh went and retrieved the sword, feeling stupider and stupider by the minute. He felt like such an idiot, making mistakes when he should have known better.

He tried it again, this time remembering to hang on to the sword more tightly.

"That's wrong," said Kaoru.

He realized that in trying to hang on to the sword, he'd let his grip become stiff again. His swing looked like that of a puppet.

He tried again, this time trying to balance out a strong grip with a relaxed grip.

"That's wrong," said Kaoru again.

Jin'eh felt a little annoyed. That last swing wasn't perfect, but it _had _been better! She didn't need to be so-

_Calm down,_ he reminded himself. _You'll only be worse if you get angry. Remember, it's hard to do something with the wrong hand._

He took a deep, calming breath and tried again.

"That's wrong," said Kaoru, sounding a little cross.

He'd known she was going to say that. He'd realized that he'd been concentrating _too _much on his grip again, and had only given a half-swing with the sword. He tried again.

"That's wrong," said Kaoru flatly.

Again, she was right. Now his grip was too loose again. He tried once more.

"That's wrong!" said Kaoru.

He tried with all his might to concentrate on both his grip and staying relaxed. He _could _do it. He knew that much. He'd learned how as young man first learning the sword, and a broken arm didn't make someone forget that knowledge. He had to stop being so _worried_ about it and just swing!

He swung. It wasn't a flawless swing, like he used to be able to do, but it was much better than the others. It was an average swing. But average was better than nothing, at least for now.

"That's wrong!" said Kaoru loudly.

It must still be too weak. He did the same thing, only this time with more force. Much better.

"That's WRONG!" shouted Kaoru.

He turned toward her. "What was wrong with that one?!" he shouted in annoyance.

"Do it again!" was all she said.

He tried to let go of his frustration. If he was frustrated, he knew he'd never do it right. He tired again, doing his best to both to balance everything he'd remembered together, _and _to not think about it and do it naturally.

"That's WRONG!" Kaoru snapped.

Jin'eh threw his hand up in the air in frustration. "Instead of just telling me I'm wrong, why don't you tell me WHAT I'm doing wrong!"

"Don't tell me how to do my job!" she shouted, and the next instant she came flying at him, sword raised. He backed up automatically and raised the sword in an awkward block. _Wait, that's wrong, _he realized as she came at him. _It has to be just like my right-handed block, only reversed. _He instantly changed the position of his sword. The new position felt unnatural, but also comfortable. And that meant it was probably correct. He shot forward, meeting her halfway.

Their swords smacked together with a loud "CRACK!"

They pushed against each other for a moment, then bounced backwards. Kaoru landed delicately, looking pleasantly surprised.

"Nice block," she said mildly.

Jin'eh gave an embarrassed nod of his head, feeling more like a little boy being praised for making good mudpies than a serious student being praised by a real teacher.

"All right," she said. "That's enough swing practice for now. Let's move on to discussing defensive maneuvers."

"But-" he began, still wondering what exactly he had been doing wrong during swing practice. Wasn't she even going to _tell _him so he could fix it?

"Kamiya Kasshin Ryu stresses defense over offense," she went on, as if he hadn't said anything. "Fighting with a wooden sword makes us vulnerable, you see, so we have to be good at defense. Not just blocking, but also dodging and, most importantly, disarming our opponents."

"Yes, but what happens when I move on to fighting with a real sword?" asked Jin'eh, confused. "Then defense won't be so essential. Offense will become more important. So then I'll have to learn how to stress _that _instead. Wouldn't it just be simpler to learn it now?" He stopped as he saw Yahiko roll his eyes at him. He turned toward Kaoru and saw that she was smirking at him. "What?" he asked.

"You don't 'move on,'" she said, still smirking.

"Oh, come on!" he said, starting to feel a little angry again. "I'm not _that _bad!"

"That's not what I meant," she said with a laugh. "What I meant is that you don't ever move on to a real sword. I'm sorry to shatter your grand dreams for the future, Jin'eh, but a wooden sword _is _the sword of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu."

"W-what?" he stammered, startled. He looked at the training sword. "_This _is going to be my sword? In _battle?"_

"Yes," said Kaoru.

"But it will never hold up!" he protested. "A real sword will slice this right in half!"

"Oh, really?" she asked sarcastically. "Thank you so much for telling me! I never noticed the weaknesses of _my family's own fighting style _before!Let alone tried to devise ways to compensate for them. I'm so glad that _you _were able to figure it out for me!"

"All right!" snarled Jin'eh. "I get it!"

"Remember, it is the goal of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu to protect people without killing. That is why we use wooden swords."

Jin'eh ran his finger along the "blade" of his new sword. A wooden sword. He was going to go around fighting with a wooden sword. He was going to look even more ridiculous than Battousai_, _with his stupid Sakaba sword! "No wonder you don't have any students," he muttered.

"What was that?" she snapped.

"Nothing," said Jin'eh. "So, how _do_ you stay alive in battle with one of these things?"

"You learn how to defend yourself," she repeated. "I'll teach you how to block by hitting the flat of your enemy's sword instead of the blade. And you're going to become very skilled at dodging, which is always safer than blocking."

"Yes, but dodging and blocking only delay the fight," said Jin'eh. "How do you _win?"_

"In Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, your goal is to either find an opening and knock your enemy out, or knock the sword out of his hands. So you've got to know how to defend yourself until one of those opportunities presents itself."

"I…see," said Jin'eh unhappily. "So you basically stand there and dodge until you get a chance to make one strike. And if it doesn't work, you're dead, right?"

"That's the basic idea," said Kaoru, unaffected by his sarcasm for once. "But of course it's more complicated than that. But I'll teach you all that later. Right now, you need to learn the basics."

"Am _I _going to get to do anything today?" asked Yahiko, sounding extremely bored.

"Be patient," said Kaoru. "You'll get your turn." She turned back to Jin'eh and raised her sword. "So your first exercise is going to be to get this sword away from me." She smiled and added: "Without getting hit."

"But-" he began again. How was he supposed to do that when she hadn't even taughthim any of the techniques yet?

But there was no time for further protest. "Ready set GO!" she shouted and lunged at him. He automatically raised his sword to block (pleased that he did it the right way this time), before he remembered that he couldn't get hit. He dove sideways instead, and her sword whistled just inches from his head.

His relief over his escape was short-lived. His sideways dive caused him to lose his balance, and he fell into the dirt with a crash. Knowing she would be right on his heels, he dug his toes into the ground and pushed off, sliding along the ground on his stomach. He heard her sword smack into the dirt behind him. Summoning all his strength, he lurched to his feet and staggered forward, desperately trying to regain his balance. He heard her behind him, coming towards him, and so he continued to move forward. As he regained his balance, his forward movement became a run.

He heard the others laughing at him as she chased him across the courtyard, but he forced himself to put them out of his mind. He continued running, trying to look scared and helpless, while still managing to stay just out of reach of her sword.

"Hey Shitpile!" yelled Sano. "You're supposed to be trying to get the sword away from her, not running away like a rabbit!"

Behind him, he heard Kaoru chuckle, even as she huffed and puffed with exertion. _Letting your guard down, I see,_ he noticed with satisfaction. This was just the reaction he'd hoped for. Now was the perfect time to strike.

He suddenly whirled around and shot _forward, _sword raised. Her eyes widened in surprise and she desperately tried to stop her forward motion. But it was too late.

He barreled into her, counting on his weight to knock her off balance so that he could finish her off with ease. At the same time, he swung his sword toward the base of her own sword, hoping he could knock it out of her hand with this one blow.

For a moment he almost thought it would work. He felt her stance begin to give way as he shoved against her. But before he could congratulate himself on his victory, he suddenly felt her shove _back_, with a force he'd never have guessed a woman could have possessed. And he suddenly realized the folly of his own plan.

His charge forward had been rather clumsy, because he was no longer agile enough to make a U-turn at full speed. As a result, he'd not been able to fully keep his balance when he turned. And so _she'd _taken advantage of his unsure footing and managed to knock _him _out of _his _stance.

He noticed all this in the instant that he was knocked off balance. His "well placed" sword stroke whizzed harmlessly past her own sword, missing it by several inches, and the momentum from his strike caused him to lose his balance even more. He fell forward with an unceremonious thud, landing neatly at his teacher's feet.

He waited for her to tap him with the sword and pronounce him "dead." But he should have realized that she was not _that_ kind of teacher.

Her sword came down with such force that he heard it cut the air during its descent. An instant later, it caught him across the back with a stinging crack. He cried out, more from surprise than pain, then collapsed into the dirt.

"You lose," Kaoru said softly, with a great deal of satisfaction.

"Way to go, Jo-chan!" shouted Sanosuke. "Let him have it!"

"Sanosuke, either be quiet or go away!" shouted Kaoru. "You're distracting us!"

Jin'eh sat up and began to get to his feet, ignoring the burning pain in his back. Immediately, her sword came down again, cracking him across the back in almost the exact same spot. He screamed in agony and fell over again.

"Jeez, Kaoru!" said Yahiko, sounding slightly shocked.

"Did I tell you to get up?" snarled Kaoru.

He remained silent, gritting his teeth against the pain.

"Well?" He heard her swing the sword threateningly above his head.

"No," he said, not looking up.

"Then why did you?"

He could think of no response that would not make her angrier, so he remained silent.

Unfortunately, that made her angry too. He clenched his teeth together and just managed not to cry out this time as her sword caught him across the back once more.

"Answer me!" she screeched.

"Because I'm stupid!" he screamed back. "I'm stupid! I'm stupid! I'm STUPID!" It was the only way he could think of to appease her.

"Good enough," she said, satisfied once more. "Get up."

He obeyed, shuffling painfully to his feet. Kaoru looked him over and said: "You're filthy. You should be more careful. We're not playing in the sandbox, you know."

He didn't respond. She grinned at him and continued: "Your little trick _almost _worked. I'm impressed."

He still didn't say anything, not knowing what an appropriate response would be.

"Ready for more?" she said, grinning more broadly and raising her sword.

_Gods, no…_ His eyes widened in horror, and his mouth opened to protest, but she was already charging toward him.

Not having any idea what to do, he simply ran for his life.

She chased him around the courtyard for several minutes, deathly silent and faster than he expected. Jin'eh knew he was never going to get away from her, and that, sooner or later, he was going to get tired and she would catch up to him. So he knew that running was only delaying the inevitable. It was probably better to make a stand now, when he still had a little energy left. He stopped in his tracks and turned around. This time he did not go charging straight at her, but instead stood his ground, going into a fighting stance.

She met his challenge with a roar, swinging her sword in a short, fast arc toward him. He just managed to dodge the first strike, and then he swung his sword desperately towards her own, knowing he had only one chance.

He missed.

He had a moment to realize that maybe he ought to give her speed _and_ skills more credit and then she countered and quickly knocked his sword from his hand. It flew hopelessly out of his reach, and even as his gaze turned to follow it, her sword smacked into his shoulder, knocking him sideways. He flailed his good arm, trying to keep his balance, but then she struck him once more, and he went down.

He yelped as he fell on his broken arm, but soon forgot _that _pain entirely. Apparently determined to teach him a lesson he'd never forget, she leaped at him with a scream and brought her sword down on his back several more times.

"Kaoru…" Yahiko trailed off in utter disbelief.

"Ah!" he caught his breath sharply as he felt the skin on his back split. "AHH! You fucking _BITCH_!"

That earned him yet another smack. Knowing he couldn't take much more of this, he fumbled desperately for some sort of idea on how to make her stop without hurting his pride too badly.

Another sword smack finally convinced him that pride was utterly unimportant. "I'M SORRY!" he howled. "PLEASE! PLEASE, PLEASE STOP!" He would have considered rolling over and licking her foot at this point, if he thought it might have stopped her.

"Kaoru-dono," came Battousai's voice. "People are staring."

Jin'eh looked up and saw that several people (who had apparently been passer-bys) were standing on the other side of the fence, gaping at them. The doorways of several nearby buildings were also open, each with a group of people peering curiously out of them.

"Jeez!" said Yahiko, hiding his face in his hand.

Kaoru stared at the ground in embarrassment.

"Okay, people!" shouted Sanosuke. "Show's over! Get lost!"

After lingering for a few moments more, the small crowd began to disperse.

"You guys had better stop training," said Sanosuke with amusement. "Or someone might call the cops on you."

"Point taken," said Kaoru, wiping sweat from her brow. He seemed to be doing her best to act causal, but he noticed she'd gone deathly pale. "The lesson is over for today." She turned to Yahiko. "Sorry you didn't get your turn today."

"That's fine," said Yahiko quickly. He glanced over at Jin'eh, who was sitting in the dirt, wiping at the bloody lip he'd gotten when he'd fallen on his face. "After seeing that, I'm not sure I _want _a lesson today."

"I'll give you extra attention tomorrow," said Kaoru.

The boy didn't look particularly reassured by this. For once, he turned and headed inside without a rude retort.

Since Kaoru wasn't paying any attention to him, Jin'eh decided it was safe to get up. He got to his feet and walked slowly and gingerly over to his sword. He knelt down to pick it up, but in doing so, he jarred his aching back. With a soft cry, he lost his balance and fell roughly into a sitting position.

Preparing to try again, he reached for his sword. Suddenly, he felt someone looming over him. Catching his breath, he looked up in terror, knowing who it was.

Kaoru stood in front of him, holding a handkerchief. Before he could say anything, she knelt down next to him and gently wiped the blood off his face. Jin'eh caught his breath in surprise, but let her finish the task.

"There," she said softly, wiping the last trace of it from his lip. She looked at her now-bloody white handkerchief, made a face, and threw it over her shoulder.

"Thank you," said Jin'eh softly, still surprised.

She sat down beside him. "I want to talk to you for a minute," she said.

He nodded, sure it was going to be another tongue lashing. But at this point, he certainly preferred a tongue-lashing over a real lashing.

She sat there silently for several minutes. Finally, she said: "You must think I'm a real ogre, huh?"

"No!" he said quickly, knowing that to agree was to invite a knuckle sandwich.

"It's okay," she said, as if he _had_ agreed with her. "I was purposely hard on you today. Do you know why?"

"Because you hate me," he said simply. "You were trying to get back at me for what I did to you and Battousai."

"I don't deny that that may have played a part," she admitted. "But that wasn't the reason why I was so hard on you."

He remained silent, not caring what self-righteous reason she was going to use to justify her behavior to herself. He knew the _real _reason why she did it. And he understood that reason. But he thought that she should at least admit it to herself, rather than hiding behind something else.

She sighed. "I guess I was just trying to show you what it's like to be on the receiving end of the way you treated Kenshin and me. I wanted you to know what it feels like to be helpless, while someone stronger than you is forcing you to fight for their own amusement."

_Ah, so you did it for my own good, huh? Typical excuse. I thought you'd at least be able to come up with a better lie._

"Uh huh," was all he said aloud.

"But…" she trailed off, looking at her feet. The two of them sat there in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Kaoru raised her head and looked at him and he was startled to see real remorse in her eyes.. "I guess I got a little carried away. I'm sorry."

Although he was surprised by her apology, he forced himself to be quiet and accept it. After all, if he didn't, he'd probably get his head knocked again. "It's all right," he said softly.

"So you understand why I did it?" she said.

"Yes," he forced himself to say. And he did understand the lesson, even if he still didn't think that was the _real _reason Kaoru had used him for a whipping post.

"Good," she said, forcing a slight smile. "Then it's a lesson well-learned." She held out a delicate-looking hand. "I'll make you a promise. I promise I'll never do it again, if you promise to take that lesson to heart and _also_ never do it again."

Jin'eh had already made such a promise to Battousai, so he didn't see any reason not to make the same promise to Kaoru. And maybe it would get her to shut up. "I promise," he said softly, taking her hand. To his surprise, it was not as delicate as it looked, for it was rough and calloused from working with a sword. The two of them shook, and then Kaoru smiled again, more gently this time.

"Good," she said again. "It's settled. I promise that from now on I'll only give you normal lessons. Speaking of which…" She leaned toward him. "I _was_ evaluating your fighting skills too, and I just want to tell you…" She stopped for a long moment, then suddenly blurted out: "You STINK!"

The insult caught him by surprise. She'd almost been being _nice_ to him, and so he hadn't expected her to suddenly revert to old habits. But he'd been insulted so many times these past few days that it didn't really bother him. So he simply said: "I'll practice."

"No! That's not what I meant!" He turned to look at her fully and saw that she had a disgusted look on her face. "I mean you STINK!" She sniffed hesitantly a few times, then said: "Ugh! When was the last time you took a bath?!"

He stayed silent, not wanting to admit to her that it had been…well, a _long _time.

His silence told her all she needed to know. "I thought as much," she said, holding her nose. "You need to take one. Now."

"I don't want to take a bath!" Baths were a waste of time.

"I'd expect that response out of Suzume," she said, glaring at him. "But not out of someone your age."

He opened his mouth to protest again, but she gave him a pointed look, and he immediately thought better of it. "That's better," she said. "Remember, you are one of my students now. And that means that you represent this dojo. So you need to remember to keep up appearances. Understand?"

"Yes, Assistant Master," he said unhappily.

"Good. Now go and take a bath before the flies carry you away."

He hesitated. "Assistant Master…"

"Go on!"

He looked at the ground. "You know I need…help."

She paused for a moment, then smiled. "I forgot," she chuckled. "All right, I'll go get Kenshin to help you. Wait here."

She headed up the steps. Jin'eh remained where he was, wishing he could disappear into the ground. He stuck his sword into his belt, then winced at the pain in his back that that simple motion caused. Today's lesson had certainly been a painful surprise. Quite painful. But he knew that there were worse pains in the world. Inside, he could here Kaoru yelling for Battousai, and he gulped.

The worst was yet to come.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

**OMG, we all know what that means for the next chapter! Hot slash-fic action!**

** Lulz, just kidding. No, don't run away! I said I was kidding! :P**

** Also, I'd like to apologize to the couple of you who were reading this fic. I didn't mean to go without updates for SO long, but I thought I'd lost the old floppy discs I had the rest of the chapters on. But my family was cleaning some stuff out of storage a while ago, and I found them mixed in with some really old computer junk. So now I can continue to update, if there's still interest. Again, my apologies for leaving you waiting…years.**


	4. Dirty Work

Dirty Work

**Just wanted to give a big thank you to those who read and reviewed. Since you both expressed interest in seeing the next chapter, here it is :)**

Jin'eh sat in the stupid bathtub in the stupid bathhouse, still angry at stupid Kaoru for making him take a stupid bath. But he was most angry at himself for being so stupidly worthless. He couldn't defeat a bitchy little girl half his age. He couldn't eat food without dropping half of it on himself. He couldn't dress himself. Now he found out that he could barely bathe himself too. The bathing area was a mess of dirt and blood and water, but despite his best, awkward, one-handed efforts, he hadn't managed to get clean enough before getting into the tub, and now the bathwater was ruined. Kaoru was going to knock his head again for sure. Curse his damnable broken elbow! It had made him unable to perform the simplest of tasks! He was starting to think that bratty Yahiko was right. He _was _a big stupid baby, and he was worthless.

He smacked at the water angrily, creating a small wave. It traveled across the tub until it broke against the other side with enough force to splash back at him. He suddenly chuckled in spite of himself and did it again.

He was always surprised by how the water fascinated him. Nothing was so fluid, so smooth, so constantly in motion. The movement of water was the only thing he could stare at for any length of time and not get bored. When he was little, and there had been no one to play with and nothing interesting to do, he would sometimes stand on the uppermost level of his stepfather's house and gaze out the window, watching the sea. Watching the waves roll in, over and over and over.

He sighed softly, locking that memory away with all the others once more. To distract himself, he smacked at the water as hard as he could, trying to see how big of a wave he could create.

The big wave traveled rapidly across the tub, splashing up against the side and spraying him with water. He laughed again, his earlier anger forgotten.

He leaned back slightly (and carefully, so as not to jar his aching back), and the warm water lapped gently at his neck. He sighed softly, feeling the water run across the back of his neck and through his hair, like a warm, gentle caress. He leaned back further. The water crept up and tickled at his ears invitingly. Giving in to temptation, he took a deep breath, held it, and sank completely under.

A few seconds later, he surfaced with a splash. The water streamed down his face and neck in warm, silver rivulets. His sopping hair now hung limply in his face, making seeing difficult.

Laughing again, he shook his head vigorously, like a dog, spraying large water droplets everywhere. His hair now stuck out wildly, like some bird's nest. He laughed again, then settled back contentedly. As long as he was stuck here for a while, he supposed it couldn't hurt to relax a bit. He'd certainly had a rough couple of days, and anyway, the warm water would be good for his various injuries and aches and pains. It had been a long time since he'd let himself really relax in a bath. Usually, his mind was too alert, too ready for danger, for battle. But this quiet little dojo seemed about as far from his old life as anything could be, and maybe he didn't need to constantly be on edge. He lay back contentedly and closed his eyes.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Sano waited behind the pantry, watching. Watching and waiting. He knew Kenshin would have to come out of that bathhouse eventually. And when he did…then they would strike.

"How long can he take in there?" whined Yahiko. "I'm getting bored."

"I'm sure that stupid fucker is probably throwing another temper tantrum, and Kenshin probably has his hands full dealing with him," replied Sano, rolling his eyes. "Be patient. He'll come out soon enough."

"All right, but he'd better hurry it up," said Yahiko, crossing his arms in annoyance.

Sano leaned against the side of the building nervously, hoping Kenshin wouldn't notice them there when he _did _come out. "Do you think we can pull this off?" he whispered.

"We'd better!" said Yahiko, not quite as concerned with keeping his voice down. "It was your idea!"

"Yeah, and it will be great if it does work," said Sano, still watching the bathhouse. "Can't you just see the look on that big turd's face when he gets out of the tub and realizes his clothes are gone?"

"Yeah, what's he going to do?" laughed Yahiko. "He doesn't have any others!"

From the main building in front of them, the sound of children laughing could suddenly be heard. Dr. Gensai must have come to visit and brought the girls with him.

"Man, I hope they don't come out here!" said Yahiko. "They'll ruin everything!"

Almost as if he'd heard the girls laughing, Kenshin suddenly came out of the bathhouse. He slipped his sandals back on and slid the door shut and then headed quickly across the courtyard. Sano was suddenly glad the children had distracted Kenshin. Kenshin's senses were so acute that he might have noticed Sano and Yahiko hiding behind the pantry even if they had kept silent and completely out of sight. But since he was distracted by the children's arrival, he walked right past the pantry without sensing anything unusual.

"All right, let's go!" whispered Sano, as soon as Kenshin had gone inside.

The two of them moved stealthily across the courtyard and up the steps of the bathhouse. Stopping at the door, Sano very carefully put his ear up to it and listened. He heard no sound from inside.

"Well?" said Yahiko.

"I don't hear anything," whispered Sano. He listened again. Still nothing. "I don't know if that's good or bad."

"Well, how are we going to know when it's safe to go in?" asked Yahiko

"Just wait until he finishes washing and gets in the tub," Sano replied, still listening at the door.

"What should I do in the meantime?" asked Yahiko.

"Just be the lookout," Sano told him. "Tell me if you see Kenshin or Kaoru coming, so we can get out of here right away."

Jin'eh must have been very dirty indeed because it was a long time before Sano heard the telltale splash of the other man getting into the bathtub. More silence followed, and finally, Sano decided it was time to crack the door open and see if it was safe to strike. He had just put his hand on the door when he heard another loud splash from within.

The two of them looked at each other. "What was that?" whispered Sano.

"I don't know," Yahiko whispered back. "Do you think he was trying to get out and slipped?"

Another splash came from inside the bathhouse, followed by a deep chuckle.

The two of them looked at each other again, this time trying not to burst out laughing.

"Well, at least we know he didn't fall and hurt himself," snickered Yahiko.

More splashing came from inside, followed by more laughter.

"Sheesh, listen to that idiot in there," whispered Sano contemptuously. "Did someone give him a toy boat to play with?"

Yahiko slapped a hand over his mouth and tried desperately to hold in his laughter.

"Shhhh!" hissed Sano. "We don't want him to hear us!"

"Well, he'd better stop acting like an imbecile, or I'm not going to be able to help it!" chortled Yahiko.

The two of them continued standing at the door, waiting for the foolishness to stop so they could get their laughter under control.

Jin'eh must have eventually decided to quit acting like a two-year old, because the splashing sounds stopped at last. When Sano regained his composure, he slid the door open a crack. Peering inside, he saw Jin'eh settle back contentedly in the tub, his eyes closed.

"Is he looking?" whispered Yahiko, who could not see anything from behind Sano.

"No, but he'll see us if we just walk in there," whispered Sano. He looked back into the room. Jin'eh's clothes were lying on the floor in a heap, about halfway between the door and the tub. Sano stared at them. The distance between the clothes and the door wasn't really that great. If they could get in and out quietly and quickly enough, they just _might _be able to pull it off.

He turned back to Yahiko, who was still straining to see over his shoulder. "The clothes are pretty close to the door," Sano whispered. "But they're right out in the open. So you have to be really fast when you go in and grab them."

"Hey!" Yahiko whispered loudly. "Why do _I _have to be the one who goes in there and gets them? This was _your _idea! Why don't you do your own dirty work?"

"Because _you're _the one who used to be a pickpocket!" Sano told him. "I'm sure you'll be able to handle this sneaky stuff better than I could."

"All right, all right," said Yahiko in exasperation. "I'll do it."

"Good," said Sano, deciding it was now or never. "Go!"

Yahiko sneaked up to the door. Sano moved aside to let him pass. Yahiko stopped at the door and quickly removed his sandals, likely in order to move more quietly. Then he peered inside.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked Sano, after a few moments had passed. "This isn't a peepshow!"

Screwing up his courage, Yahiko tiptoed inside.

Sano watched him go, then glanced back at Jin'eh. He still had his eyes shut. Sano hoped that he stayed that way, because the thin cloud of steam in the room wasn't enough to hide Yahiko.

An instant later, Yahiko came barreling out the door with an armload of clothes. "I've got them," he whispered excitedly. "Let's go!"

Sano quietly slid the door shut while Yahiko put his sandals back on and grabbed Jin'eh's shoes, and then the two of them tiptoed down the stairs. Once they reached the ground, they broke into a run.

"Good work, Yahiko!" laughed Sano as they ran toward the tool shed.

Sano reached the shed first and quickly slid the door open. He looked back over his shoulder. Still no sign of Kenshin. "After you," he said to Yahiko, motioning for him to enter.

Yahiko laughed and went inside. Sano followed, leaving the door open so they could see. "So, did you take everything?" he asked, once they were both inside.

"Of course not!" said Yahiko, feigning shock. "I'd never leave him totally exposed to the elements like that!" He smiled. "I left him his hat."

Sano laughed. "You're such a considerate guy!"

Yahiko threw the clothes in a corner of the shed, behind a pile of old clay pots and wooden buckets. "There," he said, turning back toward Sano. "Do you think anyone will be able to find them here?"

"You'd better throw some junk on top of them, just in case," said Sano, handing him a few pieces of scrapwood.

Yahiko took them and set to work hiding the clothes even further. "So," said Sano, as Yahiko worked. "Did you have any trouble getting them without being spotted?"

"Nope," said Yahiko, setting the last piece of scrapwood on top of Jin'eh's clothes, hiding them completely. "He didn't even open his eyes."

Sano grinned. "Did you see anything…interesting while you were in there?"

Yahiko looked at him, confused. "Like what?"

Sano grinned even wider. "I mean, does he have a really little-?"

"Sano!" snapped Yahiko, eyes widening. "I didn't look! What kind of pervert do you think I am?"

"Aw, where's your sense of fun?" said Sano, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

They went back out and Sano slid the door shut. "Good work," he said to Yahiko, chuckling. "I'd love to see his face when he finds out that his clothes are missing!"

Yahiko laughed. "So would I. But we'd better make ourselves scarce, so that no one suspects us."

"Right," said Sano, heading for the main building. "Remember, if anyone asks, we know nothing."

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Jin'eh glanced at the door as he dried himself off, wondering where Battousai had gone. He had promised to come back out and help Jin'eh dress again, but it had been a long time and there was still no sign of him.

Jin'eh sighed in irritation and decided to try to dress himself while he waited for Battousai. Although he knew he probably wouldn't be able to do it, he didn't see the harm in trying. After all, he wanted to re-learn to do it on his own as quickly as possible.

Reaching the place where he had left his clothes, he suddenly stopped, blinking in surprise. The clothes were not there.

Confused, he looked back over his shoulder at the area around the tub, but the clothes were not there, either. He looked back down at the floor in front of him, but his clothes had not miraculously appeared. Only his hat and wooden sword were there. Jin'eh stood there in confusion. Where were his clothes? Had Battousai taken them for some reason?

He couldn't figure out why Battousai would have done that. Besides, he remembered Battousai leaving, and he hadn't been carrying any clothes. Maybe he had hung them up before he'd left. Jin'eh looked over at the hooks on the wall near the entryway hopefully, but the clothes were not there. Starting to feel a little panicked, he looked around the room frantically. Where were they?! They couldn't have walked away on their own!

_No, but someone could have taken them._

His eyes widened as he realized that he'd been the victim of a practical joke. Someone must have sneaked in while he was soaking in the tub and stolen his clothes. He clenched his teeth in anger, sure it had been either Sanosuke or Yahiko (or maybe both). Now what was he going to do? He didn't know where they had taken them. And he certainly couldn't go looking for them the way he was!

Battousai. When Battousai came back, Jin'eh was sure that he'd go find the clothes for him. _If _Battousai came back. Where _was_ he?

Jin'eh crept over to the door and opened it a crack. He peered out and looked to see if Battousai was coming, but of course he wasn't. Jin'eh toyed with the idea of shouting for him, but decided against that, since he knew that whoever had taken his clothes would certainly hear him yelling for help and would think it was hilarious. He glanced back at the main building, but there was still no sign of Battousai.

"Hi!" came a small voice.

Jin'eh looked down at the courtyard in front of the bathhouse with surprise. One of the little girls from yesterday (the older one) was standing there, waving at him.

Not wanting her to see him, he quickly slid the door shut. He heard her giggle, then the sound of her little feet coming up the stairs. A moment later, the door started sliding open.

He grabbed it and slid it shut again, this time holding it in place. The girl laughed again and tried to open the door. "Stop it!" he shouted at her, still holding it shut. Instantly, both the pulling at the door and the laughter stopped.

Jin'eh stood there, still nervous. Had she gone? Had he upset her? Were the others going to get angry with him for scaring her?

He turned and grabbed his hat. Covering himself with it, he awkwardly slid the door open again.

The girl was still standing there, looking perturbed. She immediately brightened when she saw him peering out at her.

"Hi!" she said again, giggling.

"Uh, hello," said Jin'eh awkwardly.

"Are you playing Hide-and-Go-Seek?" asked the girl hopefully.

"No!" said Jin'eh, glancing uncomfortably toward the main building. _Hurry up, Battousai!_

"Want to play?" asked the girl.

"Uh, no. I can't," said Jin'eh. He looked at her, an idea suddenly coming to him. "Uh, Little Girl, can you go get Battousai for me?"

She giggled at him.

"Please?" he begged.

She giggled again. "What's a Battousai?"

"I mean Kenshin!" said Jin'eh, correcting himself. "Please, can you go get Kenshin and tell him to come out here?"

She giggled again. "No."

"_Please?" _He was beginning to grow desperate.

"Only if you play Hide-and-Go-Seek with me," she said stubbornly.

"All right!" said Jin'eh in exasperation. "I'll play it if you go get Kenshin and bring him here!"

"Yay!" she cheered as she ran off.

Jin'eh scowled at her as she ran back toward the house, having no intention whatsoever of holding up his end of the bargain. Stupid Battousai could play stupid Hide-and-Go-Seek with her instead, since all this was his fault for leaving Jin'eh out here and forgetting about him. Battousai would probably actually _enjoy_ such foolishness. But before he did that, he was going to find Jin'eh's clothes for him. _Then _he could play his baby games while Jin'eh went and bashed Sanosuke's and Yahiko's heads in.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Kenshin threw the ball to Suzume with a laugh. Suzume laughed back and tried to catch it, but she missed and it rolled several feet away. Still giggling, she turned and ran after it. Kenshin smiled at her. To be young and carefree…

"Kenshin!" said Kaoru. He turned to look. "Where is Ayame?" she asked.

"She had to use the bathroom," replied Kenshin. "I'm sure she'll be right back."

"All right, but when she does get back, will you ask the girls if they'd like to stay for lunch? I'm going to make stir-fry!"

Suzume, who had been about to throw the ball, suddenly froze, a stricken look on her face. The ball dropped silently to the floor.

"I will, Kaoru-dono," said Kenshin. Kaoru smiled and went back into the house. Kenshin turned toward Suzume, who now looked as if she were going to throw up. "Don't worry, Suzume," he lied. "I'm sure you'll like it. Kaoru-dono's cooking is getting better all the time, that it is."

Suzume did not reply, but she clearly looked on the verge of crying, or throwing a temper tantrum.

"There, there," he started to say, but was interrupted by another voice.

"Ken-Brother!" He turned and saw Ayame standing near the side of the main building. "Ken-Brother," she said again. "The scary man wants you to come!"

"What scary man?" he asked, wondering if she was making up stories, as young children are inclined to do.

"The scary man," she repeated. She waved in the general direction of the back of the house. "The one who lives back there."

Now he knew she was fibbing. No one lived behind the main building. He didn't think anyone was even _back _there right now. No one except-

Oh no.

Jin'eh. He'd totally forgotten about Jin'eh. It had been a long time, and Jin'eh was probably furious with him.

"Thank you for telling me, Ayame," said Kenshin. He motioned for the girls to go inside. "You two go on inside with Kaoru-dono. I'll be back soon."

The girls obeyed him (Suzume still looking upset), and Kenshin quickly ran around the building toward the back courtyard. He hoped Jin'eh wasn't _too _upset with him. He'd only meant to play with the girls for a few minutes. Sometimes a person just lost track of time…

He ran over to the bathhouse. As he went up the steps, Jin'eh immediately stuck his head out the door.

"Battousai!" said Jin'eh, sounding slightly distressed.

"Sorry I'm a little late, Jin'eh," he apologized.

But to his surprise, Jin'eh wasn't worried about _that _at all. "Battousai!" he said again. "Someone stole my clothes!"

It took a moment for this to register. "What?" Kenshin finally managed to say.

"Someone stole my clothes," Jin'eh repeated patiently. "Please, you have to find them for me!"

"Who took them?" asked Kenshin.

"I don't know. I didn't see them," said Jin'eh. His eyes narrowed in anger. "But I'm sure it was that stupid Yahiko! Or Sanosuke," he added.

Kenshin thought for a moment. Those two _were _the most likely suspects (of course, with such a small number of people living here, the list of potential suspects _was _kind of short). "All right," he said. "I'll go ask them where they put them. Don't worry," he added, when Jin'eh's upset expression did not lighten. "I'll find them. You wait here."

"Where else am I going to go?" snapped Jin'eh, before the door slid forcefully shut.

Kenshin went quickly down the steps and back toward the main building. He entered and went into the kitchen. The entire gang was in there, talking and bickering while Kaoru-dono attempted to cook stir-fry.

"I'm the strongest fighter, after Kenshin, end of story!" Yahiko was insisting.

"Yeah right," said Sano. "I've known grandmothers who were stronger than you!"

"You two shouldn't let your strength go to your heads," said Dr. Gensai mildly.

"I want to play Hide-and-Go-Seek!" yelled Ayame.

"Hide-and-Go-Seek!" shouted Suzume.

"Hi, Kenshin," said Kaoru, dumping half a container of some type of spice into her pan.

"Hello, Kaoru-dono," said Kenshin with a smile. He turned toward Sano and Yahiko, who oh-so-surprisingly, had continued their argument without looking up at him. "Sano, Yahiko, I'd like to see you outside for a moment."

They both looked up at him with expressions of utter innocence. "What about, Kenshin?" asked Sano politely.

Kenshin wasn't fooled for a moment. "Outside," he repeated.

"What's going on, Kenshin?" asked Kaoru, looking worried.

He knew she was probably afraid it was some danger that popped up, and that Kenshin wanted to talk about with the guys. But since that wasn't it, he saw no need to worry her. "It's nothing to worry about," he reassured her. "It's just something I have to take care of."

That did not appear to ease her worries, but Kenshin didn't really want to tell the whole story right now, in front of all these people, because he didn't want to embarrass Jin'eh.

Sano and Yahiko followed him out into the back courtyard, still maintaining an air of innocence. Once they were outside, Kenshin turned to them. "All right, which one of you took Jin'eh's clothes?"

"Jin'eh's clothes?" asked Yahiko innocently.

"Yes," said Kenshin sternly. "Who took them?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kenshin," said Sano. He looked over at the bathhouse. "His clothes are missing?"

"Maybe Kaoru took them," offered Yahiko. "She doesn't like him much."

"Kaoru-dono would never do something like that," said Kenshin calmly. "She's much too polite to go into a bathhouse when a man is in there bathing."

"Well, maybe he hid them himself," said Yahiko. "You know, to get us in trouble."

"That's ridiculous," said Kenshin, trying to brush the amusing mental image away. "Now, where are they?"

"I don't know," said Yahiko, looking away.

Kenshin stared at him sternly. Yahiko still looked away. "Yahiko, I'm not going to ask you again."

Yahiko looked back at him. Their eyes met, and then Yahiko's dropped down to the ground. "All right, Kenshin. I'll show you where they are."

"Yahiko!" shouted Sano.

Kenshin turned to Sano angrily. "I want this to stop. No more pranks, fights, or nasty comments. You are making this very difficult for everyone, that you are. So stop it. Do you understand?"

"Hmmph!" was all Sano said in reply. He turned his back on Kenshin and stalked away.

"Sano!" Kenshin yelled after him, but Sano did not stop walking. He went around the side of the building and disappeared. Kenshin shook his head, wondering how much longer this was going to go on. He turned toward Yahiko. "All right, where are they?" he asked, a little more kindly than he had spoken to Sano. At least Yahiko had admitted his fault.

"This way," said Yahiko in a small voice, still not looking at him. He led Kenshin to the tool shed. Opening the door, he went inside and pointed toward a corner of the shed. "There they are," he said.

Kenshin looked inside, at the corner Yahiko was pointing to. He saw the sleeve of Jin'eh's kimono sticking out from under a piece of scrapwood. "Oro, you certainly hid them well," said Kenshin, going inside.

He dug the clothes out from under the pile of wood. Then he went back outside, where Yahiko was standing, still looking ashamed. "Yahiko," said Kenshin.

Yahiko looked up at him.

"Thank you for coming clean," said Kenshin, smiling. "Do you promise not to do it again?"

"Yes, Kenshin," said Yahiko quickly.

"All right then," said Kenshin, still smiling. "It's forgiven. Now, will you do me a favor?"

"Okay," said Yahiko. "What is it?"

"Will you go back inside and get me a jar of salve and some bandages?"

"What for?" asked Yahiko, looking slightly worried. "Are you all right?"

"Oh yes," said Kenshin quickly. "The bandages are for Jin'eh, not me. Kaoru-dono did a number on his back, that she did."

"Oh. All right, Kenshin," said Yahiko. He turned and headed back to the main building.

Kenshin took the clothes back to the bathhouse. He went up the steps and slid the door open. Jin'eh was sitting by the tub, with his hat on his lap, looking mad.

"I've got them!" said Kenshin cheerfully, coming inside.

Jin'eh brightened a little. "Where were they?" he asked.

"Sano and Yahiko hid them in the tool shed, that they did." Upon seeing Jin'eh's angry look return, Kenshin added: "But I had a talk with them. They won't do it again."

"You're sure?" asked Jin'eh grouchily.

"Yes," said Kenshin, setting the clothes down next to Jin'eh. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Oro, that must be Yahiko," he said, heading for the door.

"What's _he_ doing here?" snapped Jin'eh.

"He's just bringing me some things, that he is" said Kenshin, sliding the door open. As promised, Yahiko was there with the salve and bandages. "Thank you, Yahiko," Kenshin said, taking them from him. He looked back over his shoulder. Jin'eh was scowling in the general direction of the door. Kenshin turned back to Yahiko. "Why don't you apologize?" he whispered.

Yahiko looked like Kenshin had asked him to jump off the top of Mount Fuji, but he took a deep breath and said loudly: "Sorry, Jin'eh."

Jin'eh did not answer, but Kenshin said softly: "Thank you."

Yahiko brightened a little. "Kaoru says lunch is ready, so when you're done in there, she wants you to come eat," he said with a shudder.

"All right, we will," said Kenshin. He said goodbye to Yahiko and slid the door shut again. Turning back toward Jin'eh, he asked: "So, are you all clean?"

"Yes," muttered Jin'eh. He suddenly looked sheepish. "But I ruined the bathwater."

Kenshin looked and saw that the water was cloudy with dirt. He supposed Jin'eh had found it difficult to wash with only one arm and hadn't been able to get himself completely clean before getting in. "Don't worry," he reassured the other man. "I'll change the water. In fact, I can use it later to wash your clothes."

Jin'eh opened his mouth to protest but wisely shut it again when Kenshin said "Don't argue. Remember, we have out appointment with Mr. Yamagata today."

Jin'eh looked stricken for a moment, and Kenshin guessed he _hadn't _remembered. He didn't argue further though, and let Kenshin treat his injured back and then dress him again without further comment. Then Kenshin covered the bathtub and cleaned up the bathing area while Jin'eh straightened his hair.

"There," said Kenshin, when everything was spotless again. "Now, let's go have lunch. Hopefully, it hasn't gotten cold." He opened the door and started down the steps.

Jin'eh followed him, carrying his hat rather than wearing it, so his hair would dry faster. "Is it more burned fish?" he asked.

"No, it's Too Spicy Stir Fry," said Kenshin

Lunch was indeed incredibly spicy, and left them all gasping and coughing. They each drank about twelve cups of water apiece, and Kenshin thought poor Dr. Gensai was going to have a heart attack. Jin'eh and Yahiko both kept silent for most of the meal, but Suzume, who kept having various temper tantrums about the food and Jin'eh's presence, made enough noise for both of them. There was no sign of Sano, so Kenshin assumed that he had gone home after their "fight."

They finally finished lunch, and Dr. Gensai, his energy spent, took the girls home. Kenshin went out back to do the laundry. Jin'eh gave him his clothes and then went and sat in the pantry, since the only thing Kenshin had found for him to wear was a robe that was so small it barely covered him decently. Kenshin tried to give him another poetry book to read while he was stuck inside, but got it thrown at his head (a book of adventure stories got a better response).

Kenshin washed everything (including the scarf that Sano had used for a napkin/handkerchief the day before) and was pleased that all the dirt came out of Jin'eh's clothes. The only thing that did not were numerous small brownish stains, which were old bloodstains, either from old wounds, or (as was more likely) the blood from previous victims which had splattered on him. But none of them were very large, and most of them were faded, so they didn't really show up that much.

Kenshin finished the last of the laundry and then hung everything on the line. The day had clouded up, and the sky was dull gray, but Kenshin didn't think any of the clouds were rain clouds, so he was sure that everything would dry by the time their appointment came around this afternoon.

Glad to be finished, he went back inside for some quiet time. He found Kaoru in the kitchen, also relaxing, and went and sat down beside her.

"So Kenshin," she said after they had sat in silence for a few minutes, "when is your appointment today?"

"At four-thirty," he replied, knowing that she was still worried about it.

"Why so late?" she asked curiously.

"Mr. Yamagata wanted to accommodate me right away, but his schedule was pretty full today, that it was. So he arranged a late meeting. I'm actually kind of glad, that I am," he continued. "That will allow me to sneak Jin'eh in there without too much commotion."

"Do you really think that everything will be all right?" asked Kaoru, still looking anxious.

"Yes," said Kenshin for the zillionth time. "I know for a fact that nothing is going to happen to me, because Mr. Yamagata offered me this favor himself. He can't have me arrested for trying to take him up on it, or else _he'll _look bad too."

"And do you really think he will pardon Jin'eh?" asked Kaoru. "I still don't think that that is going to happen."

"Maybe it won't work, but I am going to try my hardest to get him to work something out." Kenshin said, trying not to worry about what would happen if she was right.

"All right, but remember…" she hesitated. "If you _do_ come home without him tonight, it's probably for the best."

He sighed. "I know you wish he were not here right now, but someday I hope that you will be glad when he comes home safely at night."

"That will never happen, Kenshin," Kaoru said shortly. She sighed. "I know I should wish you luck when you go off to this meeting, but a big part of me doesn't want to." She looked down at the table, avoiding his eyes. "A part of me hopes that this meeting _doesn't _work out. It would be so much easier if it doesn't. I mean, I don't want anything to happen to _you, _but I'd be kind of glad if he didn't get pardoned. Then I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore." She looked back up at him, almost pleadingly. "Does that make me a terrible person?"

"No, Kaoru-dono," he said softly. "It just means that you are in a difficult situation and wish that you could take the easy way out."

"But that's wrong," she pointed out. "The easy way is the coward's way out."

"Yes, but only if you actually _take _it," Kenshin said. "There is no shame in simply _wishing _you could take it. Most people do, at one point or another. After all," Kenshin continued, looking down at the table himself. "I know that he has hurt you very deeply."

"I just wish that I didn't have to help him!" she blurted out. "I can see why you want me to help him, but at the same time, I feel wrong for helping him. I mean, he's committed all sorts of murders, and done terrible things to us and to other people. And now all that's catching up to him. But since we're helping him to get out of all of it, I feel almost like we're helping him so that he doesn't have to deal with the consequences of his actions." She paused. "Plus, I hate him."

He patted her hand very gently. "I know you do. You can't forgive him for what he did."

"And that makes it _really _hard to be civil to him, which I _have _to do if we're going to maintain some semblance of peace around here. I've been trying to be decent to him, but I don't know how much longer I can keep it up. I've already lost my temper a bunch of times." Her unhappy expression deepened, and he knew she was thinking about the "lesson" she'd given Jin'eh earlier.

"And you've also kept it many times," he reminded her. "Considering what he's done to you, I think that you have been remarkably tolerant of him."

"Do you really think so?" she asked him, her expression lightening a bit.

"Yes I do," Kenshin said truthfully. "And I know you don't want to hear this, but I also think that he has been doing a very good job getting along with everyone here, that he has. I know things haven't gone _entirely _smoothly, but I think that he has done a good job in coexisting with a group of strangers who hate him."

To his surprise, she did not appear to be too angered by this comment. "Actually, I think you're right," she said. "And for someone whose biggest goal in life was to inflict as much pain on himself and others as possible, well, don't you think it's _strange _how he suddenly became so…uh…'well behaved?'_"_ She shook her head slightly. "I mean, he was a maniac when we first met him. People don't just change overnight."

"No, they don't," Kenshin admitted. "And I've never thought, even for a moment, that this change was due to any virtuous feelings."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "So you think that this is all an act?"

"I didn't say that either," Kenshin said quickly. "I think he's trying so hard because he wants…" Kenshin paused, looking for the right words. "He wants to…please me."

"_What?_ Kenshin, that's ridiculous!" Kaoru snapped. "Jin'eh doesn't like you! He's just using you! Can't you see that?!" she asked desperately.

"No, Kaoru-dono," said Kenshin softly. "He wants…" This was hard for him. "He wants me to…like him."

"_Why?"_

"Because now that he cannot fight, and cannot die, I'm all he has," Kenshin told her. "So he wants to please me. He knows that I want him to stop killing, to atone for his crimes, to _live._ And so he is trying to do all that. For me." He dropped his eyes down to the table once more, suddenly ashamed to have another person's life so utterly dependent on his approval of that person. "I know that that is not a good way to live," he said softly. "But right now, it is all that is keeping Jin'eh alive. So I'm willing to let him cling to it, that I am. At least for the time being, until I can…try to nurture the humanity that is still inside of him, and get him to truly understand what he's done and truly want to change. Until I can get him to love himself and want to live on his own. Until then, I'll let him cling to it."

He looked away in embarrassment, hoping that didn't sound too foolish. Or impossible.

To his relief, Kaoru seemed to understand. She reached out and touched his arm. "I understand, Kenshin." She paused. "You care about him, don't you?"

Kenshin was silent, unable to admit it. He didn't know why, but he simply could not let himself admit to feeling that way about anyone. Not even to Kaoru. Perhaps he did not want to admit any sort of attachment to anyone because it would mean that something was holding him here. Or perhaps it hurt too much, because the last time he had felt that way about someone, she had died.

Instead, he said: "I can't let him go to prison, Kaoru-dono. I can't help him there. If he is sent there, he'll be alone for the rest of his life, and I know he will kill himself."

Kaoru looked down at the table again. "Kenshin…" she began.

Kenshin cut her off. "But even if I can get him out of going to prison, he will by no means not suffer the consequences of his actions. He will have to live with what he did. And he will spend the rest of his life trying to atone for it, just as I must."

Kaoru arched an eyebrow at him, looking like she didn't think such a fate would bother a man like Jin'eh as much as it bothered someone like Kenshin, but she didn't say anything, for which he was grateful. "But at least he'll _be_ alive," Kenshin went on. "And if he lives, there is a chance that he will be able to find happiness. And that is what I truly want for him," he admitted. "That is what I want for everyone."

Kaoru sat there, looking for a moment like she did not know what to say. Then she finally looked at him, smiling gently. Kenshin's breath caught in his throat. He loved it when she smiled at him like that.

"Then I'll pray that everything goes well at that meeting, Kenshin," Kaoru said softly. "For your sake. Because I know you will be sad if you lose him." She suddenly grinned more broadly. "So I wish you luck this afternoon."

Kenshin smiled back, feeling more at ease. "Thank you, Kaoru-dono."

She got up. "I'm going to go practice in the training hall for a while." She paused. "Why don't you take a rest? I know you've had your hands full these last two days, and some very difficult fights before that. You need some time off."

"I'm fine, Kaoru-dono," he said automatically.

"Nonsense," she said, in a voice that forbade contradiction. "You are going to take a much-needed nap. Don't worry," she added. "I'll come and wake you up an hour before your appointment."

"All right, Kaoru-dono," said Kenshin, knowing that arguing with her would be pointless. He always won sword battles, but when it came to matters of the home and hearth, she reigned supreme.

Just as she had promised, she was there, shaking him awake at three-thirty. He groaned and tried to ignore her, because he felt like it _couldn't _be three-thirty already. He felt like he'd just closed his eyes.

"Kenshin, it's time to wake up!" she said for the third time.

He finally realized that she wasn't going to go away, so he sat up sleepily.

"It's about time!" she said severely.

"Sorry, Kaoru-dono," he said rubbing his eyes.

"Are you up?" she asked. "I'm not going to leave you here if you're just going to fall asleep again."

"I'm up," he said quickly, getting to his feet.

"All right. You'd better go get Jin'eh up. I think he's taking a nap too."

"Yes, Kaoru-dono," said Kenshin, still trying to wake up.

Jin'eh was not taking a nap. Instead, Kenshin found him sweeping the pantry out.

"Oro, what are you doing?" asked Kenshin.

"I wanted to get rid of some of the dust in here," replied Jin'eh. "It keeps making me sneeze. Don't worry. I didn't get dirty. Are my clothes dry yet?"

"Of course," said Kenshin, cheerfully. "I've got them right here."

Once he was dressed again, Kenshin had the other Hitokiri help him remove the rest of the laundry from the line and carry it inside. Just in time too, for a strong wind had come up and was blowing so hard that it might have blown all the clothes away. It whipped Kenshin's ponytail around and made a mess of Jin'eh's hair as well. Kenshin was surprised at how different Jin'eh's hair looked now that it was clean. Before, he'd thought it was a grayish color, but now that all the dirt had been washed from it, he realized that it was more a very pale lavender. It was amazing what a little soap and water could do.

"Oh, good, you got the laundry in," said Kaoru, as they came inside. "I was getting worried about it." She hesitated, looking slightly nervous once again. "Are you two going to your meeting now?"

Kenshin nodded. "Yes, and we'd better get going," he said. "We don't want to be late."

"All right," Kaoru said. "Be careful. And…" she added, trying to smile, "Good luck."

"Thank you, Kaoru-dono," said Kenshin. He smiled at her reassuringly and then turned and went outside. Jin'eh followed.

Jin'eh was still a wanted criminal, so Kenshin decided to take him to the government office through the less traveled parts of town. They sneaked along behind houses, through alleys, and down streets that were not frequently used. Most of their journey was though the less desirable parts of the city, and sullen-looking people frequently stared at them in ways that made Kenshin uncomfortable, but he forced himself to put them out of his mind. After all, he knew that none of them posed any danger to a fighter like himself.

Jin'eh did not say a word for the entire length of the trip, and his silence combined with the dreary atmosphere of the slums made Kenshin feel slightly depressed. The threatening clouds beginning to loom in the west didn't help any, either. So he was very glad when they finally left the slums and traveled along the alleys of a grand-looking old street. The mansions that lined it were very pleasing to look at, even if Kenshin didn't exactly approve of such a lavish way of life. Even the well-dressed people they occasionally passed were much more polite, and merely looked at them curiously, rather than sullenly. All in all, this part of town was much more pleasant than the slums through which they'd just traveled.

Kenshin glanced at Jin'eh to see if he was enjoying this backstreet tour as well. To his surprise, Jin'eh was looking about himself with contempt. His lips were curled back scornfully, and there was a sneer in his eyes. Kenshin wondered what the matter was, but he decided against asking. It was always better not to bother someone when they had a look like that on their face.

Finally, they reached the street that housed the government offices of Tokyo. Kenshin led Jin'eh down a long alley, behind two smaller government buildings, and then around a corner, to a dreary little door at the back of the main government office building. It was most likely used for deliveries and had a "Do Not Enter" sign hanging on it. It was at this door that Mr. Yamagata had told Kenshin to wait for him.

"This is it," he said quietly.

Jin'eh did not reply. He simply stood there with a rather unpleasant look on his face. Kenshin blinked at him. Unpleasant, and _strange_, too. Part of it looked like nervousness, but there was another part of it that looked almost like _anger._

"Jin'eh, what's the matter?" asked Kenshin, wanting to get whatever was bothering him out in the open so that it didn't interfere with their meeting.

"Nothing," said Jin'eh, not looking at him.

"There's obviously _something _the matter," said Kenshin. "You are acting awfully strange, that you are."

"I have to get down on my hands and knees and beg a man I despise and who probably despises me for a pardon." Jin'eh snapped. "How do you expect me to act?"

Kenshin wanted to ask Jin'eh why he hated Mr. Yamagata, but at that moment, the door opened and a short, well-dressed, weasel-like man stuck his head out. "Himura Battousai?" asked the man, looking straight at Kenshin.

"Yes," said Kenshin quickly.

The weasel man digested this bit of information and then looked at Jin'eh. "And prisoner?" he asked.

"Yes," Kenshin said again. Jin'eh scowled but did not say anything.

The weasel man digested this information as well. "Very well," he said at last, opening the door and motioning for them to enter. They did so and were led down a long dark hallway to a small room at the end. This was not Mr. Yamagata's office (which was located on an upper floor), but Kenshin had not really expected this meeting to be held there, so he was not very nervous about the unfamiliar scenery. The weasel-man knocked on the door, and Kenshin heard Mr. Yamagata's muffled voice say from within: "Enter."

The weasel-man poked his head inside the door. "Sir, they have arrived."

"Very good," replied Mr. Yamagata. "Send them in."

The weasel-man hesitated. "Sir, are you _sure _you wouldn't like an escort of armed guards for this meeting?"

"I said before that I did not," came Mr. Yamagata's voice, sounding slightly annoyed. "I have little reason to believe that Himura Battousai would want to cause me bodily harm. And even if he _did, _you know as well as I that a whole _platoon_ of armed guards would be useless."

The weasel-man did not look reassured by this, but he said: "Yes, Sir."

"Good, now send them in," Mr. Yamagata said again.

The weasel-man obligingly stood aside and motioned for the two of them to enter. Kenshin took a moment to take a deep breath (He was embarrassed to admit that he was a little nervous), then gently took hold of Jin'eh's arm, as if he were escorting a prisoner. Jin'eh stiffened in surprise, but he dutifully went along with the act. With Jin'eh in tow, Kenshin stepped into the room.

It was not the dark, dingy-looking office he had imagined. Although it _was_ smaller than a normal office, it was not cramped, and was cheerfully lit by several lamps. There were no windows, but the walls were decorated with an ornate clock and several oil-paintings of trees. The furniture was Western-style and consisted of several chairs, a small table, and of course, a desk, behind which sat Mr. Yamagata.

"Welcome, Himura Battousai," said Mr. Yamagata as the door closed silently behind them.

"Hello, Mr. Yamagata," replied Kenshin. "You have a very nice office here."

"You know that this is not my office," said Mr. Yamagata in a friendly tone. "This is the place where more "private" government business takes place. But it suits our purpose well enough today." He paused, looking at Jin'eh contemplatively. "Is this the assassin?"

"Yes he is," replied Kenshin, not wanting to say too much just yet.

Mr. Yamagata looked down at the open file on his desk (presumably the Kurogasa file, which he must have gotten from the police), then back up at Jin'eh. "Well, he certainly matches the description," said Mr. Yamagata after a moment. He looked back down at the file. "The police will have to confirm it, of course, but I do believe that it is him." He looked at Kenshin approvingly. "Well done, Himura Battousai. Once again you've done this government a great service. By capturing this ruffian, you have assured that no more of this government's servants perish under his sword."

Kenshin was silent, trying to figure out how to begin what he wanted to say.

"But I do not understand why you wanted to bring him to me," continued Mr. Yamagata. "Why didn't you just turn him in to the police?"

"Because…" Kenshin still didn't know how to start. "Because…he is…someone you know." It was the best way to begin that he could think of.

"Someone that I know?" said Mr. Yamagata, incredulously. He looked at Jin'eh more closely, but Jin'eh had his hat pulled down farther than usual, and Mr. Yamagata still did not recognize him. "Is he someone from the political world?"

"No, he comes from further back in your history," said Kenshin. "Just as I do."

"The revolution?" asked Mr. Yamagata, looking like he was beginning to understand.

"Yes," said Kenshin. He turned to Jin'eh. "Remove your hat."

Jin'eh did as he was told. As the shadows that had hid his face disappeared, Mr. Yamagata leaned across his desk to get a better view. He stared at him for almost a minute, before he said: "You _do_ look vaguely familiar, but I can't quite place your face."

Jin'eh suddenly flashed him a big, toothy grin.

Mr. Yamagata instantly jerked backwards as if Jin'eh had splashed him with cold water, and he let out a loud gasp. "Udou Jin'eh!"

"So you _do _remember him," said Kenshin.

"How could I forget? You Hitokiri all are very memorable people." He looked at Jin'eh. "He was one of our most prized assassins, but he was also the most soulless killer I've ever encountered."

"I suited your purposes well enough," Jin'eh suddenly said, the faintest hint of a sneer in his voice.

"Yes, you did," admitted Mr. Yamagata. "But it seems you have outlived your usefulness and become a nuisance. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you turned against us. After all, you were originally working for the Shinsen Gumi during the revolution, and turned against them. Treachery, it seems, is in your blood."

"And greed is in yours," Jin'eh said smoothly.

"Several of those men you killed were colleagues," said Mr. Yamagata with a flicker of anger. He looked back at Kenshin. "Thank you for bringing him to me. I think I'll personally see to it that he gets some "special treatment" in prison."

"Mr. Yamagata, that is what I wanted to talk to you about," Kenshin tried to cut in.

"What ever happened to you anyway?" Mr. Yamagata asked Jin'eh. "You just disappeared in Kyoto towards the end of the revolution."

"I decided that working for you was unsafe," said Jin'eh. "We both know what this government does with those whose services it doesn't need anymore. I'm actually quite surprised that Battousai made it through the final purging. Others weren't so lucky." Jin'eh's voice was full of hot anger.

"I see," said Mr. Yamagata contemplatively. "After your disappearance, we simply assumed that you ended up on the wrong end of a sword somewhere. In a battle that you probably provoked. You always were rather reckless." He leaned back. "But I see now that that was a dangerously foolish assumption to make. We've certainly paid for it."

"Maybe if you weren't so fat and soft, you'd have realized it before so many of your colleagues tasted my sword," said Jin'eh with malicious joy.

Kenshin blinked at him. Why was Jin'eh acting like this? He wasn't helping the situation at all! At this rate, he was going to make Mr. Yamagata so angry that he wouldn't help them. He shot Jin'eh a Shut Up This Instant Or You'll Be Really Sorry Later look.

Jin'eh merely glared at him, not looking like he was planning on obeying. So for good measure, Kenshin gave him a discrete kick in the shins. The other Hitokiri winced slightly and glared at Kenshin once more, but he obligingly shut up. Relieved, Kenshin addressed Mr. Yamagata once again.

"Mr. Yamagata, the reason I brought him here is because he is no ordinary criminal. His crimes are certainly extraordinary, but so is his past with this government. You yourself said that he served it well during the revolution." Mr. Yamagata nodded, and so Kenshin continued. "Because of this, his capture probably should not be dealt with in an ordinary manner."

"I'll see to it that he is kept under close supervision, so that he has no chance of escape," said Mr. Yamagata.

"I meant more like…" God, he felt so dirty. "I meant…that he should be…"

"What, Himura Battousai?" asked Mr. Yamagata, with a touch of exasperation.

"You should…go easy on him."

"_What?_" Mr. Yamagata briefly lost him composure as he balked at Kenshin.

It was too late to stop now. "He was a valuable asset to the Meiji side during the revolution," said Kenshin. "If anything, he deserves some type of reward for the work he did for it. A reward like the one you offered me."

"You want me to offer this man a _government position?" _Mr. Yamagata was staring at Kenshin as if he'd gone mad.

"I was thinking more of something like…a pardon," said Kenshin, trying desperately not to laugh or even smile at the thought of Jin'eh sitting behind a desk in a government office, barking out orders about how to cut government spending (he'd probably try to cut it with a sword).

Mr. Yamagata did not look amused in any way. "You want me to pardon this killer?" he said flatly.

"Yes," said Kenshin, not liking the look on Mr. Yamagata's face.

Mr. Yamagata sat in silence for a moment. Then he looked at Kenshin sternly. "All right, let me explain this to you. This man is very dangerous, in case you hadn't already discovered that. He needs to be taken off the streets, so that he doesn't kill any more of our politicians, or anyone else."

"Jin'eh cannot be a swordsman anymore," replied Kenshin, pointing to Jin'eh's crooked right arm. "I've shattered his sword arm. He will not be a danger to anyone any longer. And I plan to watch over him just to make sure he stays out of trouble."

"And I'm sure if this man thinks hard enough, he will be able to figure out a way around both of those limitations," said Mr. Yamagata severely. "And even if your plan _did_ work, and he never killed another person as long as he lived, it doesn't change what he's done. He's committed very serious crimes against this government, and he needs to pay for them."

"Yes, but he's also helped the government a great deal as well," Kenshin pointed out. "Don't the two cancel each other out?"

"I'm surprised at you, Himura Battousai. You should know it's not that easy. And what I'd like to know is why you want to help a man like this so much," Mr. Yamagata demanded curiously.

"I want to help him because he is my friend, and a fellow Hitokiri," said Kenshin truthfully. "You have my word that I'll look after him. He will never bother this government again, and he may even fight by my side and aid it, in the future."

"And what does _Jin'eh _have to say about all this?" said Mr. Yamagata.

Jin'eh looked back at Mr. Yamagata coolly. "I follow Battousai. I will do what he wants me to do. If he wants me to stay away from this government of fat, squealing pigs, then that is what I will do."

"Well, if this is some twisted plot that the two of you cooked up together, you're certainly putting on a fairly convincing act," said Mr. Yamagata, with mild surprise. "But I honestly believe that such plans are beneath you, Himura Battousai. Therefore, I must accept that your persistence in this matter truly is motivated by a desire to help this man." He leaned back and sighed. "However, you also know that pardoning him is a very serious issue. His crimes are very severe."

"Mr. Yamagata, you are our only hope," said Kenshin desperately. "When I turned down your offer of a government position, you said the government still owed me, remember?" Mr. Yamagata suddenly looked wary, but Kenshin continued: "I am now taking you up on that offer."

"I will not do this," said Mr. Yamagata quickly.

Kenshin opened his mouth to protest, but suddenly Jin'eh put in: "You offered him a _favor. _I don't believe he told me you made any mention of it being conditional."

"There are some things that I won't do," Mr. Yamagata replied. Kenshin noted with slight relief that he'd said _won't _instead of _can't. _

"Well, then you should have known better than to offer Battousai an open-ended favor," Jin'eh shot back. "How did a supposedly smart man like yourself make it this far without knowing that?"

Mr. Yamagata looked like he wanted to argue with Jin'eh, but didn't know what to say. Finally he looked at Kenshin. "Anything else. I'll do anything else for you. Please, just not this."

"That is also an open-ended favor," said Jin'eh mildly. "How do you know it won't bring you even more trouble down the road? Why don't you just deal with this one and cut your losses?"

Mr. Yamagata truly looked worried. Kenshin began to feel sorry for him and wished that he didn't have to put the man in this position. But this was Jin'eh's only hope. He felt awful, but he _had _to insist.

"Please, Mr. Yamagata," he tried to say nicely.

Mr. Yamagata remained quiet. Kenshin tried to think of something else to say, but he could not. The silence in the room grew heavy and uncomfortable, punctuated only by the loud ticking of the clock and the occasional rumbles of thunder, way off in the distance.

Finally, Mr. Yamagata sighed softly and looked up at Kenshin. "Himura Battousai, I strongly urge you not to do this. You know that there is the very good possibility that he will become a killer again, broken arm or no broken arm. And if that happens, then _you _will be partly responsible for the deaths of more innocents. Do you really want that?" Mr. Yamagata did not give Kenshin time to answer, but instead continued: "However, if you truly want to waste the favor I offered you on such dirty business, then there may be a way to arrange for a pardon."

"There may be a way?" asked Kenshin excitedly. "How?"

"As you know, Jin'eh's political victims all had one thing in common-they were all big name imperialists. And given the fact that Jin'eh was a very undiscriminating killer during the revolution, it leads me to believe that in the Kurogasa case, he was working for someone. Most likely someone within the government itself."

Kenshin's eyes widened when he heard those words. Had Jin'eh merely been a _tool _of some powerful politician? Such a thing had never even crossed his mind. And yet, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Although Jin'eh clearly seemed to have a hatred of the government, the fact that his victims all came from one side of it clearly meant that he was killing with an agenda. He looked over at Jin'eh questioningly, but Jin'eh was not looking at him. He was staring at Mr. Yamagata, and Kenshin didn't like the look on _his_ face either.

Mr. Yamagata continued: "As you can guess, the government would have great interest in catching that particular politician." He looked at Jin'eh. "We might even allow his pawn to get off with an easier sentence if he disclosed that information. And that, combined with your service to this government during the revolution would most likely be enough to pardon you."

Kenshin could hardly believe his ears. That was all they needed to do? It was so simple!

"So if you tell us who you were working for, we will pardon you," said Mr. Yamagata solemnly.

Kenshin smiled inwardly, feeling greatly relieved. They had done it. Jin'eh would be safe now.

"No," said Jin'eh quietly.

Both Kenshin and Mr. Yamagata dropped their jaws. "Jin'eh!" said Kenshin, shocked.

"I take it your freedom isn't as important to you as your friend Battousai thinks," Mr. Yamagata said to Jin'eh.

"Jin'eh, why won't you tell him?" asked Kenshin, not understanding.

"I will not tell," Jin'eh repeated. "A Hitokiri does not reveal who he is working for to ravenous vultures. A Hitokiri does not "squeal," unlike you fat, patriot pigs. His secrets remain his own. I will die with that secret still locked away inside. This, I swear."

"Well, then there is nothing I can do for you, Oh, Mighty Hitokiri," snapped Mr. Yamagata. "You can rot in a cell for the rest of your life while your employer grows ever fatter and more greedy."

Jin'eh did not take the bait. Instead, he remained silent. Kenshin began to feel waves of panic overtake him. Just when they'd had a chance of actually securing a pardon, Jin'eh had to go and act like this. Kenshin just barely suppressed a sigh. The two of them should have discussed this together before they came here.

Well, it wasn't too late now. "Jin'eh," said Kenshin, turning to him. "This is the only way. You must tell him."

"I will not, Battousai. I won't tell, no matter what you say."

Kenshin tried to resort to logic. "Jin'eh, you told me that you were going to try to atone for your crimes. You told me that you did not want to hurt anyone else. Well, if you do not reveal who you were working for, the person who hired you may never be caught. He may continue to send assassins to wipe out his enemies. More will die."

"I don't care about those pigs!" snapped Jin'eh, although Kenshin noticed that Jin'eh would not look at him.

"Jin'eh, they are human beings. There lives are just as important as anyone else's. If you let your former employer kill them when you could have stopped him, then you will be partly responsible for their deaths. And if that happens, I will _never _forgive you. Do you understand?"

Jin'eh almost looked horrified. "Battousai…"

"I will never, _ever, _forgive you," Kenshin tried to say coldly. He felt awful about the blackmail, but it was the only thing he could think of.

Jin'eh hesitated, plainly torn. Kenshin merely stared at him pointedly. Jin'eh sighed, and Kenshin smiled ever so slightly. It looked like the fortress was beginning to crack. It was odd how Jin'eh had no problem at all about going to prison to protect his secret, but he couldn't bear the thought of making Kenshin angry over it.

"I cannot tell," he finally said miserably. "Not even for you, Battousai." Kenshin opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by Jin'eh. "However, I know that you do not want any more people to die." He turned to Mr. Yamagata. "So I will disclose the names of the rest of the victims on my list. That way, if my former employer _does _send new assassins after them, at least they'll know ahead of time, so that they can be protected."

Mr. Yamagata paused, considering. "That is useful information for us, but I don't know if it is worth a full pardon."

"It's my only offer," said Jin'eh. "Take it or leave it."

Mr. Yamagata hesitated, plainly weighing his options, and Jin'eh grinned at him. "There are some very interesting names on the list," he said darkly.

Mr. Yamagata blanched. Jin'eh stared back at him, his expression giving away nothing further. The room stayed completely quiet for almost a minute, as Mr. Yamagata tried to figure out if Jin'eh was bluffing.

Finally, he gave in. "All right, just one moment," he said softly, as he got up and went over to the door. When he opened it, Kenshin saw that the weasel man was still standing outside. He and Mr. Yamagata spoke in quiet voices for several minutes. Finally, the weasel man nodded and left.

"It will take a few moments to set things in motion," said Mr. Yamagata, sitting down at his desk again.

"So you are going to pardon him?" asked Kenshin hopefully.

"Yes," said Mr. Yamagata unhappily. "Why don't the two of you have a seat?"

They quickly obeyed, sitting down in the Western-style chairs. Kenshin was immediately uncomfortable-he felt unsteady sitting so high off the ground. Still, since Mr. Yamagata had been kind enough to offer, Kenshin thought it would be rude to refuse.

"How can you sit in this thing all day?" grumbled Jin'eh. "Are you trying to give yourself an exaggerated sense of self-importance?"

Kenshin was ready to kill him. He'd done nothing but make things worse during this whole discussion. If he didn't cut it out soon, Kenshin was going to personally make him scrub the floor in every room in every building in the entire Kamiya Dojo when they got home.

Fortunately, Mr. Yamagata didn't seem to be bothered by that particular comment, and they sat in silence while they waited for the weasel-man to come back. The rumbles of thunder sounded like they were coming closer, and Kenshin began to wonder if they were going to make it home in time before the storm hit.

He didn't have much time to ponder the issue, however, because the door suddenly opened and the weasel-man returned with several documents. "Here you are, Sir," he said politely as he laid them on the table.

"Thank you," said Mr. Yamagata, as he began shuffling through them.

It only took a few minutes to work everything out to Mr. Yamagata's satisfaction. When everything was ready at last, Mr. Yamagata signed all the forms and then Jin'eh, as promised, gave him the names of five politicians whom he'd been supposed to target over the next few months. Kenshin vaguely recognized their names-again, all of them were somewhat important political figures, and all of them were imperialists. Mr. Yamagata's name was not among them, so Jin'eh must have been bluffing.

With everything settled, Mr. Yamagata sent them on their way with a piece of advice. "Remember, Jin'eh may have been pardoned, but that doesn't change what he did. He has killed many, and as a result, is still likely to have many enemies. And this pardon only prevents the _government _from coming for him-it won't stop anyone else. So I'd be careful if I were you. Don't go around telling people about him or his past. Keep it to yourself. I trust you haven't told the police that you have caught him yet?"

"No," said Kenshin. "I haven't told them anything."

"Good," said Mr. Yamagata. "Then don't. Let the case fade away. It's in the best interest of all of us."

"All right, Mr. Yamagata," said Kenshin, knowing he was right.

"Very good. Now, Himura Battousai, my favor has been granted." He paused, looking Kenshin square in the eye. "I hope it was worth it to you, because you won't get another. I know you believe that what you are doing at this moment is right, but I personally can only foresee this foolishness ending in tragedy." He sighed. "However, it is now out of my hands. He is your responsibility, and I fully expect you to keep him in line. Keep the people of this city safe. When next we meet, I shall be interested to find out if you still think that all this was worth it. Good luck, Himura Battousai."

With that, Mr. Yamagata made a motion towards the open door, and the weasel-man arrived to show them out. "Thank you very much, Mr. Yamagata," Kenshin called back over his shoulder. He shot Jin'eh a Look.

"Thank you," Jin'eh grumbled.

Mr. Yamagata did not reply, and a moment later, the weasel-man slid the door shut. He then led them back the same way they had come, down the hallway and out into the alley.

A crack of thunder sounded just as the door shut behind them. Jin'eh looked up at the darkening sky. "Was that an ill omen?" he asked meditatively.

"No, it means that it's going to rain," replied Kenshin. "We'd better get home or we'll get caught up in it." He started walking.

They hurried through the streets, this time not bothering to sneak around. The trip back was as silent as the trip there, but this time it was Kenshin who was deliberately not doing the talking. He didn't know how to feel right now. On one hand, he was very glad that everything had worked out, and that Jin'eh had received his pardon. On the other hand, he was almost furious with Jin'eh for his behavior in that office. And so he simply didn't quite know how he should be acting right now. So he continued walking without saying anything. Finally, Jin'eh noticed his silence.

"Battousai, what's the matter?" he asked.

"Never mind," said Kenshin. He didn't want to fight with Jin'eh right now.

"Are you…angry with me?" asked Jin'eh hesitantly.

All right, if he _really _wanted to do this right now, Kenshin would oblige him. "Yes I am, Jin'eh," he said flatly. "You were very rude and threatening to Mr. Yamagata back there."

"I hate him," said Jin'eh. "I hate them all."

"I don't care," replied Kenshin. "I was trying to convince him that it would be all right to pardon you, and you made my job ten times harder than it needed to be, that you did!"

Jin'eh sighed. "I couldn't help it."

Kenshin was not fooled. "Yes you could. And you should have. I specifically told you yesterday to behave yourself, that I did."

"I'm sorry, Battousai," said Jin'eh softly.

"And you're slipping again. How many times do I have to tell you that my name is Kenshin?"

"Sorry, Kenshin," corrected Jin'eh.

It still didn't appease him. "And why didn't you tell me you had been working for someone before we came there. If I had known ahead of time, we could have prepared for it, and we wouldn't have had to have that big argument in front of Mr. Yamagata!"

"You didn't ask," Jin'eh pointed out.

"I shouldn't need to," replied Kenshin. "You knew that it was important, and so you should have told me. But you chose not to, and that is why I am angry."

"If I _had_ told you, you'd have tried to worm it out of me, just like _he _did," said Jin'eh unhappily.

Kenshin knew that he was right, so he didn't reply. But he still thought that Jin'eh was wrong in not revealing his former employer's name. However, he knew that it would be pointless to argue about it, since neither of them would be likely to change the other's opinion. Instead, he continued hurrying along the deserted streets. It was beginning to sprinkle.

Jin'eh hurried after him. "Well," he said after an extended period of silence. "Despite everything, it _did _work out. At least let me…_thank_ you."

Kenshin turned and smiled at him as he continued speedwalking. Jin'eh was so…appreciative of him that it was hard to stay angry with him for any great length of time. "You're welcome," he said, still smiling. "I'm very glad that everything worked out." He looked forward again. "I'm glad that you are finally…safe."

"Thanks to you," said Jin'eh, almost tenderly. "Thank you, Kenshin."

"You are welcome, Jin'eh," Kenshin said again, as they turned down the long street that led to the dojo.

With an ear splitting thunderclap, the clouds finally opened up and poured drenching sheets of rain down on them from the heavens.

"Run!" shouted Kenshin, as he sprinted down the street.

He reached the front gate a few seconds later. For some reason, it was open, which was odd. Kaoru never left it open, especially not when it was windy (it squeaked terribly). He looked back over his shoulder, wondering if he had left Jin'eh behind in a cloud of dust. Kenshin's heart sank when he realized that there was no sign of him on the road. Jin'eh was probably way back there, trying to catch up.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" asked a deep voice. "You'll get soaked."

Kenshin whirled around. There standing on the front porch with a very satisfied smirk on his face, was Jin'eh.

"Oro, you're fast," said Kenshin with a laugh as he joined Jin'eh on the porch.

"At least I still have my speed!" said Jin'eh, sounding pleased. He cocked his head. "Hey, listen!"

Kenshin listened. Inside the house, Kaoru was shrieking at someone. Her voice was muffled by the walls, but he could barely make out what she was saying:

"He's been gone too long! I know something's happened to him. Oh, Kenshin!"

Then another voice, which might have been Sano's: "Relax, Jo-chan (yup, definitely Sano). They haven't even been gone very long. It takes time to work out dirty deals. I'd give them another hour before you start worrying."

"Another hour?!" she shrieked. "If he makes me worry _that_ long, I'll kill him!"

"Maybe we're better off staying out here," suggested Jin'eh.

"Nonsense…" began Kenshin.

A loud crash came from inside.

"Oro, I'm in trouble," muttered Kenshin as he went inside.

Kenshin rushed into the living area and was greeted by the sight of Sano lying on the floor, felled by a vase that had been thrown at his head. Kaoru was still screaming at him, and Yahiko, Dr. Gensai, and the girls were standing behind her with nervous expressions on their faces.

"Kaoru-dono!" said Kenshin. "I'm back!"

Her head jerked up to look at him. Her eyes widened as her mouth curved into a huge grin. "Kenshin!" she cried, as she ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Kenshin, you're home! Did everything work out all right?" She lifted her head to look over his shoulder, and seemed vaguely disappointed that Jin'eh was still there. "I guess it did," she said unenthusiastically.

"Yes, we got Mr. Yamagata to agree to help us, that we did," said Kenshin.

"I'll bet it was easy for you, Kenshin!" said Yahiko. "You weren't gone very long!"

"Well, actually…" began Kenshin.

"You can tell us all about it over supper," said Kaoru, starting for the kitchen. "It's ready." On her way, she gently kicked at the groaning Sano. "Get up! It didn't hurt _that_ much!"

Sano shuffled dizzily to his feet and followed Kaoru, Yahiko, Dr. Gensai, and Suzume into the kitchen. Ayame stayed where she was, looking at Kenshin and Jin'eh happily.

"Hi, Ken-Brother!" she said.

"Hello, Ayame," replied Kenshin. "Don't you want to go into the kitchen with everyone and eat dinner?"

She shook her head, giggling. "I want to play Hide-and-Go-Seek!" She giggled again. "The scary man said he'd play!"

Kenshin looked over at Jin'eh curiously, sure that Ayame must be making this up. To his surprise, Jin'eh had a stricken look on his face and was trying to hide behind Kenshin.

"_Did_ you?" asked Kenshin, trying not to laugh.

Jin'eh shuffled his feet in embarrassment. "Well, s-sort of..."

Kenshin laughed out loud. So did Ayame, as she ran over to Jin'eh and grabbed his hand. "Come on!"

Jin'eh pulled his hand away, but then she grabbed the end of his scarf and started tugging at it. "Hey!" snapped Jin'eh. He looked down at her as if he had absolutely no idea what to do. A lifetime of relying on the sword must have left him quite inexperienced with peaceful solutions. "Stop that! Battousai, help!"

Kenshin still could not stop laughing. "Sorry, Jin'eh. I can't always help you out of every mess you get into. You'll just have to get out of this one on your own."

Jin'eh looked down at Ayame with the eyes of a trapped animal. She giggled and said: "C'mon, let's play!"

Jin'eh blinked at her in horror, then turned with a cry and ran for his life.

"No!" shouted Ayame, running after him. "Not Tag! Hide-and-Go-Seek!"

"KENSHIN!" shouted Kaoru. "IT'S TIME TO EAT!"

"Yeah, you'd better hurry!" shouted Yahiko. "Sanosuke's eating all your food!"

"Shut up, you little-" snapped Sano.

"Coming, Kaoru-dono," said Kenshin, hurrying toward the kitchen, trying to get there in time before a fight broke out between Sano and Yahiko.

He didn't quite make it, as the next second, he heard a loud crash. Everyone in the kitchen immediately started shouting at each other, just as Jin'eh came tearing back into the room, with Ayame hot on his heels. The two of them charged into the kitchen even as Kenshin tried to warn them, and the next moment he heard Jin'eh yell and Ayame shriek before there was a second loud crash. The shouting in the kitchen began anew, this time with the volume even louder.

Despite it all, Kenshin smiled

There were worse ways to spend a rainy evening.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

**Okay, now that we're all done with hazing the new guy, it's time to get back to the main storyline. Next chapter, Megumi shows up. How will Jin'eh react? What the hell was I smoking when I wrote this? Guess you'll have to find out next time!**

**Uh…please? :P**

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